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PINOCCHIO 


“Stories* Silt C^ttbren Lobe” 

A SET OF CHILDREN’S CLASSICS THAT SHOULD BE 
IN EVERY WINTER HOME AND SUMMER COTTAGE 

Pinocchio 

By C. COLLODI (Carlo Lorenzini ) 

Heidi 

By JOHANNA SPYRI 

Translated by 
ELISABETH P. STORK 

The Cuckoo Clock 

By MRS. MOLESWORTH 

The Swiss Family Robinson 

Edited by G. E. MITTON 

The Princess and the Goblin 

By GEORGE MACDONALD 

The Princess and Curdie 

By GEORGE MACDONALD 

At the Back of the North Wind 

By GEORGE MACDONALD 

A Dog of Flanders 

By “OUIDA” 

Bimbi 

By “OUIDA” 

Mopsa the Fairy 

By JEAN INGELOW 

The Chronicles of Fairy Land 

By FERGUS HUME 

Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales 

Each Volume Beautifully Illustrated in Color. 
Decorated Cloth, $1.25 net. Other Books 
in This Set are in Preparation. 


J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 







HE SAW HIS YELLOW WIG IN THE PUPPET’S HAND 

Page 21 










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PINOCCHIO 

THE STORY OF A PUPPET 


BY 

“ C. COLLODI” 

(CARLO LORENZINI) 


WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY 

MARIA L. KIRK 





PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

1916 


fttnaoogoooKoooosioooogoooocninswgsjjjiQtsggoogggggcig 










Copyright, 1916, By J. B. Lippincott Company 


Published September, 1916 



SEP 30 19!6 


PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS 
PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A. 


© Cl. A 4 4 G 3 0 6 

\ . 


INTRODUCTION 

T HERE seems to be no game more be¬ 
loved of children in all lands and all 
times than the one called Pretend. Toy- 
soldiers for the boy, and dolls—few or many— 
for the girl supply the only raw material re¬ 
quired to play this, for of course the charm of 
the game lies largely in the imagination of the 
doughty captain who endows his men with life 
and ability to go through exciting manoeuvres; 
and in that of the miniature mother who directs 
so wisely the behaviour of her family. 

After we grow up we are astonished to 
learn that this game originated with the old 
Greeks hundreds of years back, who used to 
make little jointed puppets of wood or card¬ 
board representing men and women, moving 
them about in a life-like fashion which was 
hugely entertaining to both old and young. So 
popular was the game that soon the Romans 
wanted to play, too, and then later on the 
Italians, French and English made puppets for 
their countries, only they called these little 
figures marionettes. 

Shakespeare alludes to this form of diver¬ 
sion in his plays, as do other distinguished 
writers of those times, The beautiful opera 

3 


4 


INTRODUCTION 


Faust really owes its existence to the marion¬ 
ette-play by the same name which for many 
generations delighted the German people and 
gave Goethe the idea for his opera. And who 
can doubt but that the wonderful mechanical 
doll Ophelia in Offenbach’s operatic master¬ 
piece, The Tales of Hoffman, is a direct de¬ 
scendant of those primitive puppets? 

In Italy puppet-plays have survived up to 
the present, having reached a quite high degree 
of artistic perfection. In our own country the 
most familiar street puppet-show is Punch and 
Judy —not forgetting their delectable baby— 
and wherever this appears it never fails to draw 
shrieks of laughter from the audience. 

Pinocchio is by all odds the best puppet- 
story to be found anywhere, and we sigh in 
sympathy with the funny little chap’s scrapes 
and punishments, or chuckle at his pranks, 
while we feel like exclaiming, “ Why, how much 
Pinocchio must have been like me !" 

The author of this captivating tale, Signor 
Lorenzini, or “ Collodi ”—as he liked to call 
himself after his native town in Italy—lived 
during the Nineteenth Century (1826-90) and 
devoted himself to writing and education, be¬ 
lieving that one pleasing way to teach was 
through the puppet-plays. 

Louise R. Bull 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER p A QK 

I. How it Came to Pass that Master Cherry the Car¬ 
penter Found a Piece of Wood that Laughed and 
Cried Like a Child. 11 


II. Master Cherry Makes a Present of the Piece of Wood 
to His Friend Geppetto, Who Takes it to Make for 
Himself a Wonderful Puppet, that Shall Know How 
to Dance, and to Fence, and to Leap Like an 
Acrobat. 15 

IH. Geppetto Having Returned Home Begins at Once to 
Make a Puppet, to Which He Gives the Name of 
Pinocchio. The First Tricks Played by the Puppet 19 

IV. The Story of Pinocchio and the Talking-cricket, from 
Which We See that Naughty Boys Cannot Endure 
to be Corrected by Those Who Know More than 


They do. 25 

V. Pinocchio is Hungry and Searches for an Egg to make 
Himself an Omelet; But Just at the Most Interesting 
Moment the Omelet Flies out of the Window. 28 

VI. Pinocchio Falls Asleep with His Feet on the Brazier, 


and Wakes in the Morning to Find Them Burnt Off J32 


VII. Geppetto Returns Home, Makes the Puppet New 
Feet, and Gives Him the Breakfast that the Poor 
Man had Brought for Himself. 35 

Vin. Geppetto Makes Pinocchio New Feet, and Sells His 

Own Coat to Buy Him a Spelling-book. 40 

IX. Pinocchio Sells His Spelling-book that He May Go and 

See a Puppet-show. 44 

X. The Puppets Recognise Their Brother Pinocchio, and 
Receive Him with Delight; but at that Moment 
Their Master Fire-eater Makes His Appearance and 
Pinocchio is in Danger of Coming to a Bad End.. 48 

5 









6 


CONTENTS 


XI. Fire-eater Sneezes and Pardons Pinocchio, Who then 

Saves the Life of His Friend Harlequin. 52 

XII. The Showman, Fire-eater, Makes Pinocchio a Present 
of Five Gold Pieces to Take Home to His Father, 
Geppetto; but Pinocchio Instead Allows Himself to 
be Taken in by the Fox and the Cat, and Goes with 
Them. 57 

XIII. The Inn of The Red Craw-fish. 64 

XIV. Pinocchio, Because He Would not Heed the Good 

Counsels of the Talking-cricket, Falls Amongst 
Assassins. 69 

XV. The Assassins Pursue Pinocchio; and Having Over¬ 
taken Him Hang Him to a Branch of the Big Oak. 74 

XVI. The Beautiful Child with Blue Hair Has the Puppet 
Taken Down: Has Him Put to Bed and Calls in 
Three Doctors to Know if He is Alive or Dead.... 78 

XVII. Pinocchio Eats the Sugar, but will not Take His 
Medicine: When, However, He sees the Grave¬ 
diggers, Who have Arrived to Carry Him Away, 

He Takes it. He then Tells a Lie, and as a Punish¬ 
ment His Nose Grows Longer. 83 

XVIII. Pinocchio Meets Again the Fox and the Cat, and Goes 
with Them to Bury His Money in the Field of 
Miracles.. 90 

XIX. Pinocchio is Robbed of His Money, and as a Punish¬ 
ment He is Sent to Prison for Four Months. 97 

XX. Liberated from Prison, He Starts to Return to the 
Fairy’s House; but on the Road He Meets with a 
Horrible Serpent, and Afterwards He is Caught in 
a Trap. 102 

XXI. Pinocchio is Taken by a Peasant, Who Obliges Him 
to Fill the Place of His Watch-dog in the Poultry- 
yard. 106 

4 4 











CONTENTS 7 

XXII. Pinocchio Discovers the Robbers, and as a Reward 

for His Fidelity is Set at Liberty. 110 

XXIII. Pinocchio Mourns the Death of the Beautiful Child 
with the Blue Hair. He then Meets with a Pigeon 
who Flies with Him to the Seashore, and There He 
Throws Himself into the Water to go to the Assist¬ 
ance of His Father Geppetto. 115 

XXIV. Pinocchio Arrives at the Island of the “Industrious 

Bees,” and Finds the Fairy Again. 123 

XXV. Pinocchio Promises the Fairy to be Good and Studious, 
for He is Quite Sick of Being a Puppet and Wishes 
to Become an Exemplary Boy. 132 

XXVI. Pinocchio Accompanies His Schoolfellows to the Sea¬ 
shore to see the Terrible Dog-fish. 137 

XXVII. Great Fight Between Pinocchio and His Companions. 

One of Them is Wounded, and Pinocchio is Arrested 
by the Gendarmes. 141 

XXVIII. Pinocchio is in Danger of Being Fried in a Frying-pan 

Like a Fish. 150 

XXIX. He Returns to the Fairy’s House. She Promises Him 
that the Following Day He Shall Cease to be a 
Puppet and Shall Become a Boy. Grand Breakfast 
of Coffee and Milk to Celebrate this Great Event.. 157 

XXX. Pinocchio, Instead of Becoming a Boy, Starts Secretly 
with His Friend Candlewick for the “Land of 
Boobies”. 167 

XXXI. After Five Months’ Residence in the Land of Cocagne, 
Pinocchio, to His Great Astonishment, Grows a 
Beautiful Pair of Donkey’s Ears, and He Becomes 
a Little Donkey, Tail and All. 175 

XXXII. Pinocchio Gets Donkey’s Ears; and Then He Becomes 

a Real Little Donkey and Begins to Bray. 184 












8 


CONTENTS 


XXXIII. Pinocchio, Having Become a Genuine Little Donkey, 
is Taken to be Sold, and is Bought by the Director 
of a Company of Buffoons to be Taught to Dance, 
and to Jump Through Hoops: but One Evening He 
Lames Himself, and then He is Bought by a Man 
Who Purposes to make a Drum of His Skin. 192 

XXXIV. Pinocchio, Having been Thrown into the Sea, is Eaten 
by the Fish and Becomes a Puppet as He was 
Before. Whilst He is Swimming Away to Save His 


Life He is Swallowed by the Terrible Dog-fish.... 204 

XXXV. Pinocchio Finds in the Body of the Dog-fish . . . 

Whom does He Find? Read this Chapter and You 
Will Know. 214 


XXXVI. Pinocchio at Last Ceases to be a Puppet and Becomes 
a Boy. 


221 




ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


He Saw his Yellow Wig in the Puppet’s Hand. Frontispiece 

The One who Ate the Least Was Pinocchio. 

The Crow, Advancing First, Felt Pinocchio’s Pulse. 

He Began with his Hands and Nails to Dig up the Earth that 
He had Watered. 

“Gallop, Gallop, My Little Horse”. 

“What Species of Fish is This?”. 

And They Laughed, and Laughed, and Laughed. 

He Swam with Redoubled Strength and Energy Toward the 
White Rock. 


65 


81 


99 


119 


154 


190 


209 

















PINOCCHIO 


i 


HOW IT CAME TO PASS THAT MASTER CHERRY 
THE CARPENTER FOUND A PIECE OF WOOD 
THAT LAUGHED AND CRIED LIKE A CHILD 


T HERE was once upon a time . . . 

“A king!” my little readers will in¬ 
stantly exclaim. 

No, children, you are wrong. There was 
once upon a time a piece of wood. 

This wood was not valuable: it was only 
a common log like those that are burnt in winter 
in the stoves and fireplaces to make a cheerful 
blaze and warm the rooms. 

I cannot say how it came about, but the fact 
is, that one fine day this piece of wood was 
lying in the shop of an old carpenter of the 
name of Master Antonio. He was, however, 
called by everybody Master Cherry, on account 
of the end of his nose, which was always as red 
and polished as a ripe cherry. 

No sooner had Master Cherry set eyes on 
the piece of wood than his face beamed with 
delight; and, rubbing his hands together with 
satisfaction, he said softly to himself: 


11 


PINOCCHIO 


12 


“ This wood has come at the right moment; 
it will just do to make the leg of a little table.” 

Having said this he immediately took a 
sharp axe with which to remove the bark and 
the rough surface. Just, however, as he was 
going to give the first stroke he remained with 
his arm suspended in the air, for he heard a 
very small voice saying imploringly, “ Do not 
strike me so hard! ” 

Picture to yourselves the astonishment of 
good old Master Cherry! 

He turned his terrified eyes all round the 
room to try and discover where the little voice 
could possibly have come from, but he saw no¬ 
body! He looked under the bench—nobody; 
he looked into a cupboard that was always shut 
—nobody; he looked into a basket of shavings 
and sawdust—nobody; he even opened the door 
of the shop and gave a glance into the street— 
and still nobody. Who, then, could it be? 

“ I see how it is,” he said, laughing and 
scratching his wig; “ evidently that little voice 
was all my imagination. Let us set to work 
again.” 

And taking up the axe he struck a tre¬ 
mendous blow on the piece of wood. 

“Oh! oh! you have hurt me!” cried the 
same little voice dolefully. 


PINOCCHIO 


13 


This time Master Cherry was petrified. His 
eyes started out of his head with fright, his 
mouth remained open, and his tongue hung out 
almost to the end of his chin, like a mask on a 
fountain. As soon as he had recovered the 
use of his speech, he began to say, stuttering 
and trembling with fear: 

“ But where on earth can that little voice 
have come from that said Oh! oh!? . . . Here 
there is certainly not a living soul. Is it pos¬ 
sible that this piece of wood can have learnt to 
cry and to lament like a child ? I cannot believe 
it. This piece of wood, here it is; a log for fuel 
like all the others, and thrown on the fire it 
would about suffice to boil a saucepan of beans. 
. . . How then? If anyone is hidden inside, so 
much the worse for him. I will settle him at 
once.” 

So saying, he seized the poor piece of wood 
and commenced beating it without mercy 
against the walls of the room. 

Then he stopped to listen if he could hear 
any little voice lamenting. He waited two 
minutes—nothing; five minutes—nothing; ten 
minutes—still nothing! 

“ I see how it is,” he then said, forcing him¬ 
self to laugh and pushing up his wig; “evi¬ 
dently the little voice that said Oh! oh! was all 
my imagination! Let us set to work again.” 



14 


PINOCCHIO 


But as all the same he was in a great fright, 
he tried to sing to give himself a little courage. 

Putting the axe aside, he took his plane to 
plane and polish the bit of wood; but whilst he 
was running it up and down he heard the same 
little voice say, laughing: 

“ Have done! you are tickling me all over! ” 

This time poor Master Cherry fell down as 
if he had been struck by lightning. When he 
at last opened his eyes he found himself seated 
on the floor. 

His face was quite changed, even the end 
of his nose, instead of being crimson, as it was 
nearly always, had become blue from fright. 


II 


MASTER CHERRY MAKES A PRESENT OF THE PIECE 
OF WOOD TO HIS FRIEND GEPPETTO, WHO 
TAKES IT TO MAKE FOR HIMSELF A WONDER¬ 
FUL PUPPET, THAT SHALL KNOW HOW TO 
DANCE, AND TO FENCE, AND TO LEAP LIKE AN 
ACROBAT 



T that moment some one knocked at the 
L door. 


X. -A. « Come in,” said the carpenter, without 
having the strength to rise to his feet. 

A lively little old man immediately walked 
into the shop. His name was Geppetto, but 
when the boys of the neighbourhood wished to 
put him in a passion they called him by the 
nickname of Polendina , 1 because his yellow wig 
resembled a pudding made of Indian corn. 

Geppetto was very fiery. Woe to him who 
called him Polendina! He became furious, and 
there was no holding him. 

“ Good day, Master Antonio,” said Gep¬ 
petto ; “ what are you doing there on the floor? ” 

“ I am teaching the alphabet to the ants.” 

“ Much good may that do you.” 

“ What has brought you to me, neighbour 
Geppetto? ” 

1 Polendina. In Italian, pudding of Indian corn. 



16 


PINOCCHIO 


“ My legs. But to say the truth, Master 
Antonio, I am come to ask a favour of you.” 

“ Here I am, ready to serve you,” replied 
the carpenter, getting on to his knees. 

“ This morning an idea came into my head.” 

“ Let us hear it.” 

“ I thought I would make a beautiful 
wooden puppet; but a wonderful puppet that 
should know how to dance, to fence, and to leap 
like an acrobat. With this puppet I would 
travel about the world to earn a piece of bread 
and a glass of wine. What do you think of it ? ” 

“Bravo, Polendina!” exclaimed the same 
little voice, and it was impossible to say where 
it came from. 

Hearing himself called Polendina, Gep- 
petto became as red as a turkey-cock from rage, 
and turning to the carpenter he said in a fury: 

“ Why do you insult me? ” 

“ Who insults you? ” 

“ You called me Polendina! . . .” 

“ It was not I! ” 

“Would you have it, then, that it was I? 
It was you, I say! ” 

“ No!” 

“ Yes!” 

“ No!” 

“Yes!” 

And becoming more and more angry, from 


PINOCCHIO 


17 


words they came to blows, and flying at each 
other they bit, and fought, and scratched man¬ 
fully. 

When the fight was over Master Antonio 
was in possession of Geppetto’s yellow wig, and 
Geppetto discovered that the grey wig belong¬ 
ing to the carpenter had remained between his 
teeth. 

“ Give me back my wig,” screamed Master 
Antonio. 

“And you, return me mine, and let us make 
friends.” 

The two old men having each recovered his 
own wig shook hands, and swore that they 
would remain friends to the end of their lives. 

“ Well then, neighbour Geppetto,” said the 
carpenter, to prove that peace was made, “ what 
is the favour that you wish of me? ” 

“ I want a little wood to make my puppet; 
will you give me some? ” 

Master Antonio was delighted, and he im¬ 
mediately went to the bench and fetched the 
piece of wood that had caused him so much 
fear. But just as he was going to give it to his 
friend, the piece of wood gave a shake, and 
wriggling violently out of his hands struck with 
all its force against the dried-up shins of poor 
Geppetto. 

“Ah! is that the courteous way in which 


18 


PINOCCHIO 


you make your presents, Master Antonio? You 
have almost lamed me! . . 

“ I swear to you that it was not I! . . 

“ Then you would have it that it was I ?.. 

“ The wood is entirely to blame!. . .” 

“ I know that it was the wood; but it was 
you that hit my legs with it! . . .” 

“ I did not hit you with it!...” 

“ Liar! ” 

“ Geppetto, don’t insult me or I will call 
you Polendina! . . 

“Ass!” 

“ Polendina! ” 

“ Donkey! ” 

“ Polendina! ” 

" Baboon! ” 

“ Polendina! ” 

On hearing himself called Polendina for the 
third time Geppetto, blind with rage, fell upon 
the carpenter and they fought desperately. 

When the battle was over, Master Antonio 
had two more scratches on his nose, and his 
adversary had two buttons too little on his 
waistcoat. Their accounts being thus squared 
they shook hands, and swore to remain good 
friends for the rest of their lives. 

Geppetto carried off his fine piece of wood 
and, thanking Master Antonio, returned limp¬ 
ing to his house. 


Ill 


GEPPETTO HAVING RETURNED HOME BEGINS AT 
ONCE TO MAKE A PUPPET, TO WHICH HE 
GIVES THE NAME OF PINOCCHIO. THE FIRST 
TRICKS PLAYED BY THE PUPPET 



EPPETTO lived in a small ground- 


floor room that was only lighted from 


the staircase. The furniture could not 
have been simpler,—a bad chair, a poor bed, 
and a broken-down table. At the end of the 
room there was a fireplace with a lighted fire; 
but the fire was painted, and by the fire was a 
painted saucepan that was boiling cheerfully, 
and sending out a cloud of smoke that looked 
exactly like real smoke. 

As soon as he reached home Geppetto took 
his tools and set to work to cut out and model 
his puppet. 

“ What name shall I give him? ” he said to 
himself; “ I think I will call him Pinocchio. It 
is a name that will bring ’him luck. I once 
knew a whole family so called. There was 
Pinocchio the father, Pinocchia the mother, and 
Pinocchi the children, and all of them did well. 
The richest of them was a beggar.” 

Having found a name for his puppet, he 
began to work in good earnest, and he first 


19 


20 PINOCCHIO 

made his hair, then his forehead, and then his 
eyes. 

The eyes being finished, imagine his aston¬ 
ishment when he perceived that they moved and 
looked fixedly at him. 

Geppetto seeing himself stared at by those 
two wooden eyes took it almost in bad part, and 
said in an angry voice: 

“ Wicked wooden eyes, why do you look 
at me? ” 

No one answered. 

He then proceeded to carve the nose; but 
no sooner had he made it than it began to grow. 
And it grew, and grew, and grew, until in a 
few minutes it had become an immense nose 
that seemed as if it would never end. 

Poor Geppetto tired himself out with cut¬ 
ting it off; but the more he cut and shortened 
it, the longer did that impertinent nose become! 

The mouth was not even completed when it 
began to laugh and deride him. 

“Stop laughing!” said Geppetto, pro¬ 
voked; but he might as well have spoken to 
the wall. 

“Stop laughing, I say!” he roared in a 
threatening tone. 

The mouth then ceased laughing, but put 
out its tongue as far as it would go. 

Geppetto, not to spoil his handiwork, pre- 


PINOCCHIO 


21 


tended not to see, and continued his labours. 
After the mouth he fashioned the chin, then 
the throat, then the shoulders, the stomach, the 
arms and the hands. 

The hands were scarcely finished when 
Geppetto felt his wig snatched from his head. 
He turned round, and what did he see? He 
saw his yellow wig in the puppet’s hand. 

“ Pinocchio! . . . Give me back my wig 
instantly! ” 

But Pinocchio, instead of returning it, put 
it on his own head, and was in consequence 
nearly smothered. 

Geppetto at this insolent and derisive be¬ 
haviour felt sadder and more melancholy than 
he had ever been in his life before; and turning 
to Pinocchio he said to him: 

“ You young rascal! You are not yet com¬ 
pleted, and you are already beginning to show 
want of respect to your father! That is bad, 
my boy, very bad! ” 

And he dried a tear. 

The legs and the feet remained to be done. 

When Geppetto had finished the feet he 
received a kick on the point of his nose. 

“I deserve it!” he said to himself; “ I 
should have thought of it sooner! Now it is 
too late! ” 

He then took the puppet under the arms 


M PINOCCHIO 

and placed him on the floor to teach him to 
walk. 

Pinocchio’s legs were stiff and he could not 
move, but Geppetto led him by the hand and 
showed him how to put one foot before the 
other. 

When his legs became flexible Pinocchio 
began to walk by himself and to run about the 
room; until, having gone out of the house door, 
he jumped into the street and escaped. 

Poor Geppetto rushed after him but was 
not able to overtake him, for that rascal Pinoc¬ 
chio leapt in front of him like a hare, and knock¬ 
ing his wooden feet together against the pave¬ 
ment made as much clatter as twenty pairs of 
peasants’ clogs. 

“ Stop him! stop him! ” shouted Geppetto; 
but the people in the street, seeing a wooden 
puppet running like a racehorse, stood still 
in astonishment to look at it, and laughed, and 
laughed, and laughed, until it beats description. 

At last, as good luck would have it, a car¬ 
abineer arrived who, hearing the uproar, im¬ 
agined that a colt had escaped from his master. 
Planting himself courageously with his legs 
apart in the middle of the road, he waited with 
the determined purpose of stopping him, and 
thus preventing the chance of worse disasters. 

When Pinocchio, still at some distance, saw 


PINOCCHIO 


23 


the carabineer barricading the whole street, he 
endeavoured to take him by surprise and to 
pass between his legs. But he failed signally. 

The carabineer without disturbing himself 
in the least caught him cleverly by the nose— 
it was an immense nose of ridiculous propor¬ 
tions that seemed made on purpose to be laid 
hold of by carabineers—and consigned him to 
Geppetto. Wishing to punish him, Geppetto 
intended to pull his ears at once. But imagine 
his feelings when he could not succeed in find¬ 
ing them. And do you know the reason? It 
was that, in his hurry to model him, he had 
forgotten to make them. 

He then took him by the collar, and as he 
was leading him away he said to him, shaking 
his head threateningly: 

“We will go home at once, and as soon as 
we arrive we will regulate our accounts, never 
doubt it.” 

At this announcement Pinocchio threw him¬ 
self on the ground and would not take another 
step. In the meanwhile a crowd of idlers and 
inquisitive people began to assemble and to 
make a ring round them. 

Some of them said one thing, some another. 

“ Poor puppet! ” said several, “ he is right 
not to wish to return home! Who knows how 
Geppetto, that bad old man, will beat him!... ” 


24 


PINOCCHIO 


And the others added maliciously: 

“ Geppetto seems a good man! but with 
boys he is a regular tyrant! If that poor pup¬ 
pet is left in his hands he is quite capable of 
tearing him in pieces! . . 

It ended in so much being said and done 
that the carabineer at last set Pinocchio at 
liberty and conducted Geppetto to prison. The 
poor man, not being ready with words to defend 
himself, cried like a calf, and as he was being 
led away to prison sobbed out: 

“ Wretched boy! And to think how I have 
laboured to make him a well-conducted puppet! 
Eut it serves me right! I should have thought 
of it sooner! .. 

What happened afterwards is a story that 
really is past all belief, but I will relate it to 
you in the following chapters. 


IV 


THE STORY OF PINOCCHIO AND THE TALKING- 
CRICKET, FROM WHICH WE SEE THAT 
NAUGHTY BOYS CANNOT ENDURE TO BE COR¬ 
RECTED BY THOSE WHO KNOW MORE THAN 
THEY DO 


ELL then, children, I must tell you 



that whilst poor Geppetto was being 


taken to prison for no fault of his, 
that imp Pinocchio, finding himself free from 
the clutches of the carabineer, ran off as fast 
as his legs could carry him. That he might 
reach home the quicker, he rushed across the 
fields, and in his mad hurry he jumped high 
banks, thorn hedges, and ditches full of water, 
exactly as a kid or a leveret would have done 
if pursued by hunters. 

Having arrived at the house he found the 
street door ajar. He pulled it open, went in, 
and having secured the latch seated himself on 
the ground and gave a sigh of satisfaction. 

But his satisfaction did not last long, for he 
heard some one in the room who was saying: 

“ Cri-cri-cri! ” 

“ Who calls me? ” said Pinocchio in a fright. 

“ it is ir 

Pinocchio turned round and saw a big 
cricket crawling slowly up the wall. 


25 


26 


PINOCCHIO 


“ Tell me, Cricket, who may you be? 99 

“ I am the Talking-cricket, and I have lived 
in this room a hundred years and more.” 

“ Now, however, this room is mine,” said 
the puppet, “ and if you would do me a pleasure 
go away at once, without even turning round.” 

“ I will not go,” answered the Cricket, “ un¬ 
til I have told you a great truth.” 

“ Tell it me, then, and be quick about it.” 

“ Woe to those boys who rebel against their 
parents, and run away capriciously from home. 
They will never come to any good in the world, 
and sooner or later they will repent bitterly.” 

“ Sing away, Cricket, as you please, and as 
long as you please. For me, I have made up 
my mind to run away to-morrow at daybreak, 
because if I remain I shall not escape the fate 
of all other boys; I shall be sent to school and 
shall be made to study either by love or by 
force. To tell you in confidence, I have no 
wish to learn; it is much more amusing to run 
after butterflies, or to climb trees and to take 
the young birds out of their nests.” 

“ Poor little goose! But do you not know 
that in that way you will grow up a donkey, 
and that every one will make game of you? ” 

“ Hold your tongue, you wicked ill-omened 
croaker ! 99 shouted Pinocchio. 

But the Cricket, who was patient and phil- 


PINOCCHIO 


n 


osophical, instead of becoming angry at this 
impertinence, continued in the same tone: 

“ But if you do not wish to go to school 
why not at least learn a trade, if only to enable 
you to earn honestly a piece of bread! ” 

“ Do you want me to tell you? ” replied 
Pinocchio, who was beginning to lose patience. 
“Amongst all the trades in the world there is 
only one that really takes my fancy.” 

“ And that trade—what is it? ” 

“ To eat, drink, sleep, and amuse myself, and 
to lead a vagabond life from morning to night.” 

“Asa rule,” said the Talking-cricket with 
the same composure, “ all those who follow that 
trade end either in a hospital or in prison.” 

“ Take care, you wicked ill-omened croaker! 
... Woe to you if I fly into a passion!. . .” 

“ Poor Pinocchio! I really pity you! . . .” 
“ Why do you pity me? ” 

“ Because you are a puppet and, what is 
worse, because you have a wooden head.” 

At these last words Pinocchio jumped up in 
a rage, and snatching a wooden hammer from 
the bench he threw it at the Talking-cricket. 

Perhaps he never meant to hit him; but un¬ 
fortunately it struck him exactly on the head, 
so that the poor Cricket had scarcely breath to 
cry cri-cri-cri, and then he remained dried up 
and flattened against the wall. 


V 

PINOCCHIO IS HUNGRY AND SEARCHES FOR AN 
EGG TO MAKE HIMSELF AN OMELET; BUT 
JUST AT THE MOST INTERESTING MOMENT 
THE OMELET FLIES OUT OF THE WINDOW 

N IGHT was coming on, and Pinocchio, 
remembering that he had eaten noth¬ 
ing all day, began to feel a gnawing 
in his stomach that very much resembled 
appetite. 

But appetite with boys travels quickly, and 
in fact after a few minutes his appetite had 
become hunger, and in no time his hunger be¬ 
came ravenous—a hunger that was really 
quite insupportable. 

Poor Pinocchio ran quickly to the fireplace 
where a saucepan was boiling, and was going 
to take off the lid to see what was in it, but the 
saucepan was only painted on the wall. You 
can imagine his feelings. His nose, which was 
already long, became longer by at least three 
fingers. 

He then began to run about the room, 
searching in the drawers and in every imagi¬ 
nable place, in hopes of finding a bit of bread. 
If it was only a bit of dry bread, a crust, a 
bone left by a dog, a little mouldy pudding of 
Indian corn, a fish bone, a cherry stone—in fact 
28 


PINOCCHIO 


anything that he could gnaw. But he could 
find nothing, nothing at all, absolutely nothing. 

And in the meanwhile his hunger grew and 
grew; and poor Pinocchio had no other relief 
than yawning, and his yawns were so tremen¬ 
dous that sometimes his mouth almost reached 
his ears. And after he had yawned he splut¬ 
tered, and felt as if he was going to faint. 

Then he began to cry desperately, and he 
said: 

“ The Talking-cricket was right. I did 
wrong to rebel against my papa and to run 
away from home. ... If my papa was here I 
should not now be dying of yawning! Oh! 
what a dreadful illness hunger is! ” 

Just then he thought he saw something in 
the dust-heap—something round and white that 
looked like a hen’s egg. To give a spring and 
seize hold of it was the affair of a moment. 
It was indeed an egg. 

Pinocchio’s joy beats description; it can 
only be imagined. Almost believing it must 
be a dream he kept turning the egg over in 
his hands, feeling it and kissing it. And as 
he kissed it he said: 

“ And now, how shall I cook it? Shall I 
make an omelet? ... No, it would be better to 
cook it in a saucer!... Or would it not be more 
savoury to fry it in the frying-pan? Or shall 


30 


PINOCCHIO 


I simply boil it? No, the quickest way of all 
is to cook it in a saucer: I am in such a hurry 
to eat it! ” 

Without loss of time he placed an earthen¬ 
ware saucer on a brazier full of red-hot embers. 
Into the saucer instead of oil or butter he poured 
a little water; and when the water began to 
smoke, tac! ... he broke the egg-shell over it 
that the contents might drop in. But instead 
of the white and the yolk a little chicken popped 
out very gay and polite. Making a beautiful 
courtesy it said to him: 

“ A thousand thanks, Master Pinocchio, for 
saving me the trouble of breaking the shell. 
Adieu until we meet again. Keep well, and my 
best compliments to all at home! ” 

Thus saying it spread its wings, darted 
through the open window, and flying away was 
lost to sight. 

The poor puppet stood as if he had been 
bewitched, with his eyes fixed, his mouth open, 
and the egg-shell in his hand. Recovering, 
however, from his first stupefaction, he began 
to cry and scream, and to stamp his feet on 
the floor in desperation, and amidst his sobs 
he said: 

“ Ah! indeed the Talking-cricket was right. 
If I had not run away from home, and if my 
papa was here, I should not now be dying of 


PINOCCHIO 31 

hunger! Oh! what a dreadful illness hunger 
is! . . 

And as his stomach cried out more than 
ever and he did not know how to quiet it, he 
thought he would leave the house and make an 
excursion in the neighbourhood in hopes of 
finding some charitable person who would give 
him a piece of bread. 


VI 

PINOCCHIO FALLS ASLEEP WITH HIS FEET ON 
THE BRAZIER, AND WAKES IN THE MORNING 
TO FIND THEM BURNT OFF 

I T was a wild and stormy winter’s night. 
The thunder was tremendous and the 
lightning so vivid that the sky seemed on 
fire. A bitter blusterous wind whistled angrily, 
and raising clouds of dust swept over the coun¬ 
try, causing the trees to creak and groan as it 
passed. 

Pinocchio had a great fear of thunder, but 
hunger was stronger than fear. He therefore 
closed the house door and made a rush for the 
village, which he reached in a hundred bounds, 
with his tongue hanging out and panting for 
breath, like a dog after game. 

But he found it all dark and deserted. The 
shops were closed, the windows shut, and there 
was not so much as a dog in the street. It 
seemed the land of the dead. 

Pinocchio, urged by desperation and hun¬ 
ger, laid hold of the bell of a house and began 
to peal it with all his might, saying to himself: 
“ That will bring somebody.” 

And so it did. A little old man appeared 
at a window with a nightcap on his head, and 
called to him angrily: 

32 


PINOCCHIO 


33 


“ What do you want at such an hour? ” 

“ Would you be kind enough to give me a 
little bread? ” 

“ Wait there, I will be back directly,” said 
the little old man, thinking he had to do with one 
of those rascally boys who amuse themselves 
at night by ringing the house bells to rouse 
respectable people who are sleeping quietly. 

After half a minute the window was again 
opened, and the voice of the same little old man 
shouted to Pinocchio: 

“ Come underneath and hold out your cap.” 

Pinocchio pulled off his cap; but just as he 
held it out an enormous basin of water was 
poured down on him, watering him from head 
to foot as if he had been a pot of dried-up 
geraniums. 

He returned home like a wet chicken quite 
exhausted with fatigue and hunger; and hav¬ 
ing no longer strength to stand, he sat down 
and rested his damp and muddy feet on a 
brazier full of burning embers. 

And then he fell asleep; and whilst he slept 
his feet, which were wooden, took fire, and 
little by little they burnt away and became 
cinders. 

Pinocchio continued to sleep and to snore 
as if his feet belonged to some one else. At 
s 


34 


PINOCCHIO 


last about daybreak he awoke because some 
one was knocking at the door. 

“ Who is there?” he asked, yawning and 
rubbing his eyes. 

“ It is I! ” answered a voice. 

And the voice was Geppetto’s voice. 


VII 

GEPPETTO RETURNS HOME, AND GIVES THE 
PUPPET THE BREAKFAST THAT THE POOR 
MAN HAD BROUGHT FOR HIMSELF 

P OOR Pinocchio, whose eyes were still half 
shut from sleep, had not as yet discov¬ 
ered that his feet were burnt off. The 
moment, therefore, that he heard his father’s 
voice he slipped off his stool to run and open 
the door; but after stumbling two or three times 
he fell his whole length on the floor. 

And the noise he made in falling was as 
if a sack of wooden ladles had been thrown 
from a fifth story. 

“ Open the door! ” shouted Geppetto from 
the street. 

“ Dear papa, I cannot,” answered the pup¬ 
pet, crying and rolling about on the ground. 

“ Why cannot you? ” 

“ Because my feet have been eaten.” 

“ And who has eaten your feet? ” 

“ The cat,” said Pinocchio, seeing the cat, 
who was amusing herself by making some shav¬ 
ings dance with her forepaws. 

“ Open the door, I tell you ! 99 repeated Gep¬ 
petto angrily. “ If you do not, when I get 
into the house you shall have the cat from 


35 


36 


PINOCCHIO 


“ I cannot stand up, believe me. Oh, poor 
me! poor me! I shall have to walk on my knees 
for the rest of my life! . . 

Geppetto, believing that all this lamenta¬ 
tion was only another of the puppet’s tricks, 
thought of a means of putting an end to it, 
and climbing up the wall he got in at the 
window. 

He was very angry, and at first he did 
nothing but scold; but when he saw his Pinoc- 
chio lying on the ground and really without 
feet he was quite overcome. He took him in 
his arms and began to kiss and caress him and 
to say a thousand endearing things to him, and 
as the big tears ran down his cheeks, he said, 
sobbing: 

44 My little Pinocchio! how did you manage 
to burn your feet? ” 

44 I don’t know, papa, but believe me it has 
been an infernal night that I shall remember 
as long as I live. It thundered and lightened, 
and I was very hungry, and then the Talking- 
cricket said to me: 4 It serves you right; you 
have been wicked and you deserve it,’ and I 
said to him: 4 Take care, Cricket! ’ . . . and he 
said: 4 You are a puppet and you have a wooden 
head,’ and I threw the handle of a hammer at 
him, and he died, but the fault was his, for I 
didn’t wish to kill him, and the proof of it is 


PINOCCHIO 


37 


that I put an earthenware saucer on a brazier 
of burning embers, but a chicken flew out and 
said: ‘Adieu until we meet again, and many 
compliments to all at home ’: and I got still 
more hungry, for which reason that little old 
man in a nightcap opening the window said 
to me: ‘ Come underneath and hold out your 
hat,’ and poured a basinful of water on my 
head, because asking for a little bread isn’t a 
disgrace, is it? and I returned home at once, 
and because I was always very hungry I put 
my feet on the brazier to dry them, and then 
you returned, and I found they were burnt 
off, and I am always hungry, but I have no 
longer any feet! Ih! Ih! Ih! Ih! . . And 
poor Pinocchio began to cry and to roar so 
loudly that he was heard five miles off. 

Geppetto, who from all this jumbled ac¬ 
count had only understood one thing, which 
was that the puppet was dying of hunger, drew 
from his pocket three pears, and giving them 
to him said: 

“ These three pears were intended for my 
breakfast; but I will give them to you. Eat 
them, and I hope they will do you good.” 

“ If you wish me to eat them, be kind 
enough to peel them for me.” 

“Peel them?” said Geppetto, astonished. 
“ I should never have thought, my boy, that 


38 


PINOCCHIO 


you were so dainty and fastidious. That is 
bad! In this world we should accustom our¬ 
selves from childhood to like and to eat every¬ 
thing, for there is no saying to what we may 
be brought. There are so many chances! . . 

“ You are no doubt right,’’ interrupted 
Pinocchio, “ but I will never eat fruit that has 
not been peeled. I cannot bear rind.” 

So that good Geppetto fetched a knife, 
and arming himself with patience peeled the 
three pears, and put the rind on a corner of the 
table. 

Having eaten the first pear in two mouth¬ 
fuls, Pinocchio was about to throw away the 
core; but Geppetto caught hold of his arm and 
said to him: 

“ Do not throw it away; in this world every¬ 
thing may be of use.” 

“ But core I am determined I will not eat,” 
shouted the puppet, turning upon him like a 
viper. 

“ Who knows! there are so many chances! 
. . repeated Geppetto without losing his 
temper. 

And so the three cores, instead of being 
thrown out of the window, were placed on the 
corner of the table together with the three 
rinds. 

Having eaten, or rather having devoured 


PINOCCHIO 


39 


the three pears, Pinocchio yawned tremen¬ 
dously, and then said in a fretful tone: 

“ I am as hungry as ever! ” 

“ But, my boy, I have nothing more to give 
you! ” 

“ Nothing, really nothing?” 

“ I have only the rind and the cores of the 
three pears.” 

“ One must have patience! ” said Pinocchio; 
“ if there is nothing else I will have to eat a 
rind.” 

And he began to chew it. At first he made 
a wry face; but then one after another he 
quickly disposed of the rinds: and after the 
rinds even the cores, and when he had eaten up 
everything he clapped his hands on his sides 
in his satisfaction, and said joyfully: 

“ Ah! now I feel comfortable.” 

“ You see now,” observed Geppetto, “ that 
I was right when I said to you that it did not 
do to accustom ourselves to be too particular 
or too dainty in our tastes. We can never 
know, my dear boy, what may happen to us. 
There are so many chances! , • 


VIII 

GEPPETTO MAKES PINOCCHIO NEW FEET, AND 
SELLS HIS OWN COAT TO BUY HIM A SPELLING- 
BOOK 

N O sooner had the puppet appeased his 
hunger than he began to cry and to 
grumble because he wanted a pair of 

new feet. 

But Geppetto, to punish him for his naugh¬ 
tiness, allowed him to cry and to despair for 
half the day. He then said to him: 

“ Why should I make you new feet? To 
enable you to escape again from home? ” 

“ I promise you,” said the puppet, sobbing, 
“ that for the future I will be good.” 

“ All boys,” replied Geppetto, “ when they 
are bent upon obtaining something, say the 
same thing.” 

“ I promise you that I will go to school, 
and that I will study and earn a good char¬ 
acter.” 

“ All boys, when they are bent on obtain¬ 
ing something, repeat the same story.” 

“ But I am not like other boys! I am 
better than all of them and I always speak the 
truth. I promise you, papa, that I will learn 
a trade, and that I will be the consolation and 
the staff of your old age.” 

40 


PINOCCHIO 


41 


Geppetto, although he put on a severe face, 
had his eyes full of tears and his heart big with 
sorrow at seeing his poor Pinocchio in such a 
pitiable state. He did not say another word, 
but taking his tools and two small pieces of 
well-seasoned wood he set to work with great 
diligence. 

In less than an hour the feet were finished: 
two little feet—swift, well-knit, and nervous. 
They might have been modelled by an artist 
of genius. 

Geppetto then said to the puppet: 

“ Shut your eyes and go to sleep! ” 

And Pinocchio shut his eyes and pretended 
to be asleep. 

And whilst he pretended to sleep, Gep¬ 
petto, with a little glue which he had melted 
in an egg-shell, fastened his feet in their place, 
and it was so well done that not even a trace 
could be seen of where they were joined. 

No sooner had the puppet discovered that 
he had feet than he jumped down from the 
table on which he was lying, and began to 
spring and to cut a thousand capers about the 
room, as if he had gone mad with delight. 

“ To reward you for what you have done 
for me,” said Pinocchio to his father, “ I will 
go to school at once.” 

“ Good boy.” 


42 


PINOCCHIO 


“ But to go to school I shall want some 
clothes.” 

Geppetto, who was poor, and who had not 
so much as a farthing in his pocket, then made 
him a little dress of flowered paper, a pair of 
shoes from the bark of a tree, and a cap of the 
crumb of bread. 

Pinocchio ran immediately to look at him¬ 
self in a crock of water, and he was so pleased 
with his appearance that he said, strutting 
about like a peacock: 

“ I look quite like a gentleman! ” 

“Yes, indeed,” answered Geppetto, “ for 
bear in mind that it is not fine clothes that make 
the gentleman, but rather clean clothes.” 

“ By the bye,” added the puppet, “ to go 
to school I am still in want—indeed I am with¬ 
out the best thing, and the most important.” 

“ And what is it? ” 

“ I have no Spelling-book.” 

“You are right: but what shall we do to 
get one? ” 

“ It is quite easy. We have only to go to 
the bookseller’s and buy it.” 

“ And the money? ” 

“ I have got none.” 

“No more have I,” added the good man. 

And Pinocchio, although he was a very 
merry boy, became sad also; because poverty, 


PINOCCHIO 


43 


when it is real poverty, is understood by every¬ 
body—even by boys. 

“ Well, patience! ” exclaimed Geppetto, all 
at once rising to his feet, and putting on his 
old fustian coat, all patched and darned, he ran 
out of the house. 

He returned shortly, holding in his hand a 
Spelling-book for Pinocchio, but the old coat 
was gone. The poor man was in his shirt 
sleeves, and out of doors it was snowing. 

“ And the coat, papa? ” 

“ I have sold it.” 

“ Why did you sell it? ” 

“ Because I found it too hot.” 

Pinocchio understood this answer in an 
instant, and unable to restrain the impulse of 
his good heart he sprang up, and throwing his 
arms round Geppetto’s neck he began kissing 
him again and again. 


IX 


PINOCCHIO SELLS HIS SPELLING-BOOK THAT HE 
MAY GO AND SEE A PUPPET-SHOW 

soon as it had done snowing Pinocchio 



set out for school with his fine Spelling- 


-*• book under his arm. As he went along 
he began to imagine a thousand things in his 
little brain, and to build a thousand castles in 
the air, one more beautiful than the other. 

And talking to himself he said: 

“ To-day at school I will learn to read at 
once; then to-morrow I will begin to write, and 
the day after to-morrow to cipher. Then with 
my acquirements I will earn a great deal of 
money, and with the first money I have in 
my pocket I will immediately buy for my papa 
a beautiful new cloth coat. But what am I 
saying? Cloth, indeed! It shall be all made 
of gold and silver, and it shall have diamond 
buttons. That poor man really deserves it; 
for to buy me books and have me taught he 
has remained in his shirt sleeves. . . . And in 
this cold! It is only fathers who are capable 
of such sacrifices! . . .” 

Whilst he was saying this with great emo¬ 
tion he thought that he heard music in the dis¬ 
tance that sounded like fifes and the beating 
of a big drum: fi-fi-fi, fi-fi-fi, zum, zum, zum, 

44 


PINOCCHIO 


45 


He stopped and listened. The sounds came 
from the end of a cross street that took to a 
little village on the seashore. 

44 What can that music be? What a pity 
that I have to go to school, or else . . 

And he remained irresolute. It was, how¬ 
ever, necessary to come to a decision. Should 
he go to school? or should he go after the fifes? 

44 To-day I will go and hear the fifes, and 
to-morrow I will go to school,” finally decided 
the young scapegrace, shrugging his shoulders. 

The more he ran the nearer came the sounds 
of the fifes and the beating of the big drum: 
fi-fi-fi, zum, zum, zum, zum. 

At last he found himself in the middle of a 
square quite full of people, who were all crowd¬ 
ing round a building made of wood and canvas, 
and painted a thousand colours. 

44 What is that building? ” asked Pinocchio, 
turning to a little boy who belonged to the place. 

44 Read the placard—it is all written—and 
then you will know.” 

44 1 would read it willingly, but it so hap¬ 
pens that to-day I don’t know how to read.” 

44 Bravo, blockhead! Then I will read it to 
you. The writing on that placard in those 
letters red as fire is: 

4 GREAT PUPPET THEATRE ’ 99 

44 Has the play begun long? ” 


46 


PINOCCHIO 


“ It is beginning now.” 

“ How much does it cost to go in? ” 

“ Twopence. ,, 

Pinocchio, who was in a fever of curiosity, 
lost all control of himself, and without any 
shame he said to the boy to whom he was talking: 

“Would you lend me twopence until to¬ 
morrow? ” 

“ I would lend them to you willingly,” said 
the other, taking him off, “ but it so happens 
that to-day I cannot give them to you.” 

“ I will sell you my jacket for twopence,” 
the puppet then said to him. 

“ What do you think that I could do with 
a jacket of flowered paper? If there was rain 
and it got wet, it would be impossible to get it 
off my back.” 

“ Will you buy my shoes? ” 

“ They would only be of use to light the 
fire.” 

“ How much will you give me for my cap ? ” 

“ That would be a wonderful acquisition in¬ 
deed ! A cap of bread crumb! There would be 
a risk of the mice coming to eat it whilst it was 
on my head.” 

Pinocchio was on thorns. He was on the 
point of making another offer, but he had not 
the courage. He hesitated, felt irresolute and 
remorseful. At last he said: 


PINOCCHIO 


47 


“ Will you give me twopence for this new 
Spelling-book? ” 

“ I am a boy and I don’t buy from boys,” 
replied his little interlocutor, who had much 
more sense than he had. 

“ I will buy the Spelling-book for two¬ 
pence,” called out a hawker of old clothes, who 
had been listening to the conversation. 

And the book was sold there and then. And 
to think that poor Geppetto had remained at 
home trembling with cold in his shirt sleeves, 
that he might buy his son a Spelling-book! 


X 

THE PUPPETS RECOGNISE THEIR BROTHER PINOC- 
CHIO, AND RECEIVE HIM WITH DELIGHT; BUT 
AT THAT MOMENT THEIR MASTER FIRE- 
EATER MAKES HIS APPEARANCE AND PINOC- 
CHIO IS IN DANGER OF COMING TO A BAD END 

W HEN Pinocchio came into the little 
puppet theatre, an incident occurred 
that almost produced a revolution. 

I must tell you that the curtain was drawn 
up, and the play had already begun. 

On the stage Harlequin and Punchinello 
were as usual quarrelling with each other, and 
threatening every moment to come to blows. 

The audience, all attention, laughed till they 
were ill as they listened to the bickerings of 
these two puppets, who gesticulated and abused 
each other so naturally that they might have 
been two reasonable beings, and two persons 
of the world. 

All at once Harlequin stopped short, and 
turning to the public he pointed with his hand 
to some one far down in the pit, and exclaimed 
in a dramatic tone: 

“ Gods of the firmament! do I dream, or 
am I awake? But surely that is Pinocchio!...” 
“ It is indeed Pinocchio! ” cried Punchinello. 


48 


PINOCCHIO 49 

“It is indeed himself!” screamed Miss 
Rose, peeping from behind the scenes. 

“ It is Pinocchio! it is Pinocchio! ” shouted 
all the puppets in chorus, leaping from all sides 
on to the stage. “ It is Pinocchio! It is our 
brother Pinocchio! Long live Pinocchio!. . .” 

“ Pinocchio, come up here to me,” cried 
Harlequin, “ and throw yourself into the arms 
of your wooden brothers! ” 

At this affectionate invitation Pinocchio 
made a leap from the end of the pit into the 
reserved seats,; another leap landed him on the 
head of the leader of the orchestra, and he then 
sprang upon the stage. 

The embraces, the hugs, the friendly 
pinches, and the demonstrations of warm broth¬ 
erly affection that Pinocchio received from the 
excited crowd of actors and actresses of the 
puppet dramatic company beat description. 

The sight was doubtless a moving one, but 
the public in the pit, finding that the play was 
stopped, became impatient, and began to shout: 
“ We will have the play—go on with the play! ” 

It was all breath thrown away. The pup¬ 
pets, instead of continuing the recital, re¬ 
doubled their noise and outcries, and putting 
Pinocchio on their shoulders they carried him 
in triumph before the footlights. 

At that moment out came the showman. 


50 


PINOCCHIO 


He was very big, and so ugly that the sight 
of him was enough to frighten anyone. His 
beard was as black as ink, and so long that it 
reached from his chin to the ground. I need 
only say that he trod upon it when he walked. 
His mouth was as big as an oven, and his eyes 
were like two lanterns of red glass with lights 
burning inside them. He carried a large whip 
made of snakes and foxes’ tails twisted to¬ 
gether, which he cracked constantly. 

At his unexpected appearance there was a 
profound silence: no one dared to breathe. A 
fly might have been heard in the stillness. The 
poor puppets of both sexes trembled like so 
many leaves. 

“ Why have you come to raise a disturbance 
in my theatre? ” asked the showman of Pinoc- 
chio, in the gruff voice of a hob-goblin suffering 
from a severe cold in the head. 

“ Believe me, sir, it was not my fault! . . 

“ That is enough! To-night we will settle 
our accounts.’’ 

As soon as the play was over the showman 
went into the kitchen where a fine sheep, pre¬ 
paring for his supper, was turning slowly on 
the spit in front of the fire. As there was not 
enough wood to finish roasting and browning 
it, he called Harlequin and Punchinello, and 
said to them: 


PINOCCHIO 


51 


“ Bring that puppet here: you will find him 
hanging on a nail. It seems to me that he is 
made of very dry wood, and I am sure that if 
he was thrown on the fire he would make a 
beautiful blaze for the roast.” 

At first Harlequin and Punchinello hesi¬ 
tated; but, appalled by a severe glance from 
their master, they obeyed. In a short time they 
returned to the kitchen carrying poor Pinoc- 
chio, who was wriggling like an eel taken out 
of water, and screaming desperately: “ Papa! 
papa! save me! I will not die, I will not die!...” 


XI 


FIRE-EATER SNEEZES AND PARDONS PINOCCHIO, 
WHO THEN SAVES THE LIFE OF HIS FRIEND 
HARLEQUIN 


T HE showman Fire-eater—for that was 
his name—looked, I must say, a ter¬ 
rible man, especially with his black 
beard that covered his chest and legs like an 
apron. On the whole, however, he had not a 
bad heart. In proof of this, when he saw poor 
Pinocchio brought before him, struggling and 
screaming “ I will not die, I will not die! ” he 
was quite moved and felt very sorry for him. 
He tried to hold out, but after a little he could 
stand it no longer and he sneezed violently. 
When he heard the sneeze, Harlequin, who up 
to that moment had been in the deepest afflic¬ 
tion, and bowed down like a weeping willow, 
became quite cheerful, and leaning towards 
Pinocchio he whispered to him softly: 

“ Good news, brother. The showman has 
sneezed, and that is a sign that he pities you, 
and consequently you are saved.” 

For you must know that whilst most men, 
when they feel compassion for somebody, either 
weep or at least pretend to dry their eyes, Fire- 
eater, on the contrary, whenever he was really 
overcome, had the habit of sneezing. 

52 


PINOCCHIO 


53 


After he had sneezed, the showman, still 
acting the ruffian, shouted to Pinocchio: 

“ Have done crying! Your lamentations 
have given me a pain in my stomach.... I feel 
a spasm, that almost . . . Etci! etci!” and he 
sneezed again twice. 

“ Bless you! ” said Pinocchio. 

“ Thank you! And your papa and your 
mamma, are they still alive? ” asked Fire-eater. 

“Papa, yes; my mamma I have never 
known.’ 5 

“ Who can say what a sorrow it would be 
for your poor old father if I was to have you 
thrown amongst those burning coals! Poor old 
man! I compassionate him! . . . Etci! etci! 
etci! ” and he sneezed again three times. 

“ Bless you! ” said Pinocchio. 

“ Thank you! All the same, some compas¬ 
sion is due to me, for as you see I have no more 
wood with which to finish roasting my mutton, 
and to tell you the truth, under the circum¬ 
stances you would have been of great use to 
me! However, I have had pity on you, so I 
must have patience. Instead of you I will 
burn under the spit one of the puppets belong¬ 
ing to my company. Ho there, gendarmes! ” 

At this call two wooden gendarmes imme¬ 
diately appeared. They were very long and 


54 


PINOCCHIO 


very thin, and had on cocked hats, and held 
unsheathed swords in their hands. 

The showman said to them in a hoarse voice: 

“ Take Harlequin, bind him securely, and 
then throw him on the fire to burn. I am de¬ 
termined that my mutton shall be well roasted.” 

Only imagine that poor Harlequin! His 
terror was so great that his legs bent under 
him, and he fell with his face on the ground. 

At this agonising sight Pinocchio, weeping 
bitterly, threw himself at the showman’s feet, 
and bathing his long beard with his tears he 
began to say in a supplicating voice: 

“ Have pity, Sir Fire-eater! . . .” 

“ Here there are no sirs,” the showman 
answered severely. 

“ Have pity, Sir Knight! . . 

“ Here there are no knights! ” 

“ Have pity, Commander! . . 

“ Here there are no commanders! ” 

“ Have pity, Excellence! . . .” 

Upon hearing himself called Excellence the 
showman began to smile, and became at once 
kinder and more tractable. Turning to Pinoc¬ 
chio he asked: 

“ Well, what do you want from me? ” 

“ I implore you to pardon poor Harlequin.” 

“ For him there can be no pardon. As I 
have spared you he must be put on the fire, for 


PINOCCHIO 55 

I am determined that my mutton shall be well 
roasted.” 

“ In that case,” cried Pinocchio proudly, 
rising and throwing away his cap of bread 
crumb—“ in that case I know my duty. Come 
on, gendarmes! Bind me and throw me 
amongst the flames. It is not just that poor 
Harlequin, my friend, should die for me! . . 

These worcfe, pronounced in a loud heroic 
voice, made all the puppets who were present 
cry. Even the gendarmes, although they were 
made of wood, wept like two newly-born lambs. 

Fire-eater at first remained as hard and 
unmoved as ice, but little by little he began to 
melt and to sneeze. And having sneezed four 
or five times, he opened his arms affectionately, 
and said to Pinocchio: 

“ You are a good, brave boy! Come here 
and give me a kiss.” 

Pinocchio ran at once, and climbing like a 
squirrel up the showman’s beard he deposited 
a hearty kiss on the point of his nose. 

“ Then the pardon is granted? ” asked poor 
Harlequin in a faint voice that was scarcely 
audible. 

“ The pardon is granted! ” answered Fire- 
eater; he then added, sighing and shaking his 
head: 


56 


PINOCCHIO 


“ I must have patience! To-night I shall 
have to resign myself to eat the mutton half 
raw; but another time, woe to him who 
chances! . . 

At the news of the pardon the puppets all 
ran to the stage, and having lighted the lamps 
and chandeliers as if for a full-dress perform¬ 
ance, they began to leap and to dance merrily. 
At dawn they were still dancing. 


XII 


THE SHOWMAN, FIRE-EATER, MAKES PINOCCHIO 
A PRESENT OF FIVE GOLD PIECES TO TAKE 
HOME TO HIS FATHER, GEPPETTO; BUT 
PINOCCHIO INSTEAD ALLOWS HIMSELF TO BE 
TAKEN IN BY THE FOX AND THE CAT, AND 
GOES WITH THEM 



HE following day Fire-eater called 
Pinocchio on one side and asked him: 


“ What is your father’s name? ” 

“ Geppetto.” 

“ And what trade does he follow? ” 

“ He is a beggar.” 

“ Does he gain much? ” 

“ Gain much? Why, he has never a penny 
in his pocket. Only think, to buy a Spelling- 
book for me to go to school he was obliged to 
sell the only coat he had to wear—a coat that, 
between patches and darns, was not fit to be 
seen.” 

“ Poor devil! I feel almost sorry for him! 
Here are five gold pieces. Go at once and 
take them to him with my compliments.” 

You can easily understand that Pinocchio 
thanked the showman a thousand times. He 
embraced all the puppets of the company one 
by one, even to the gendarmes, and beside him¬ 
self with delight set out to return home. 


57 


58 


PINOCCHIO 


But he had not gone far when he met on the 
road a Fox lame of one foot, and a Cat blind 
of both eyes, who were going along helping 
each other like good companions in misfortune. 
The Fox, who was lame, walked leaning on the 
Cat, and the Cat, who was blind, was guided by 
the Fox. 

“ Good day, Pinocchio,” said the Fox, ac¬ 
costing him politely. 

“ How do you come to know my name? ” 
asked the puppet. 

“ I know your father well/’ 

“ Where did you see him? ” 

“ I saw him yesterday at the door of his 
house.” 

“ And what was he doing? ” 

“ He was in his shirt sleeves and shivering 
with cold.” 

“Poor papa! But that is over; for the 
future he shall shiver no more!.. 

“ Why? 

“ Because I am become a gentleman.” 

“ A gentleman—you! ” said the Fox, and 
he began to laugh rudely and scornfully. The 
Cat also began to laugh, but to conceal it she 
combed her whiskers with her forepaws. 

“ There is little to laugh at,” cried Pinoc¬ 
chio angrily. “ I am really sorry to make your 
mouths water, but if you know anything about 


PINOCCHIO 59 

it, you can see that these here are five gold 
pieces.” 

And he pulled out the money that Fire- 
eater had made him a present of. 

At the sympathetic ring of the money the 
Fox, with an involuntary movement, stretched 
out the paw that had seemed crippled, and the 
Cat opened wide two eyes that looked like two 
green lanterns. It is true that she shut them 
again, and so quickly that Pinocchio observed 
nothing. 

“ And now,” asked the Fox, “ what are you 
going to do with all that money? ” 

“ First of all,” answered the puppet, “ I 
intend to buy a new coat for my papa, made 
of gold and silver, and with diamond buttons; 
and then I will buy a Spelling-book for 
myself.” 

“ For yourself? ” 

“ Yes indeed: for I wish to go to school to 
study in earnest.” 

“ Look at me! ” said the Fox. “ Through 
my foolish passion for study I have lost a leg.” 

“ Look at me! ” said the Cat. “ Through 
my foolish passion for study I have lost the 
sight of both my eyes.” 

At that moment a white Blackbird, that 
was perched on the hedge by the road, began 
his usual song, and said: 


60 


PINOCCHIO 


“Pinocchio, don’t listen to the advice of 
bad companions: if you do you will repent 
it! . . 

Poor Blackbird! If only he had not spoken! 
The Cat, with a great leap, sprang upon him, 
and without even giving him time to say Oh! 
ate him in a mouthful, feathers and all. 

Having eaten him and cleaned her mouth 
she shut her eyes again and feigned blindness 
as before. 

“Poor Blackbird!’’ said Pinocchio to the 
Cat, “ why did you treat him so badly? ” 

“ I did it to give him a lesson. He will 
learn another time not to meddle in other 
people’s conversation.” 

They had gone almost half-way when the 
Fox, halting suddenly, said to the puppet: 

“ Would you like to double your money? ” 

“ In what way?” 

“ Would you like to make out of your five 
miserable sovereigns, a hundred, a thousand, 
two thousand? ” 

“ I should think so! but in what way? ” 

“ The way is easy enough. Instead of re¬ 
turning home you must go with us.” 

“ And where do you wish to take me? ” 

“ To the land of the Owls.” 

Pinocchio reflected a moment, and then he 
said resolutely: 


PINOCCHIO 


61 


“No, I will not go. I am already close to 
the house, and I will return home to my papa 
who is waiting for me. Who can tell how often 
the poor old man must have sighed yesterday 
when I did not come back! I have indeed been 
a bad son, and the Talking-cricket was right 
when he said: ‘ Disobedient boys never come 
to any good in the world.’ I have found it to 
my cost, for many misfortunes have happened 
to me. Even yesterday in Fire-eater’s house I 
ran the risk.. . . Oh! it makes me shudder only 
to think of it! ” 

“ Well, then,” said the Fox, “ you are quite 
decided to go home? Go, then, and so much 
the worse for you.” 

“ So much the worse for you! ” repeated the 
Cat. 

“ Think well of it, Pinocchio, for you are 
giving a kick to fortune.” 

“ To fortune! ” repeated the Cat. 

“ Between to-day and to-morrow your five 
sovereigns would have become two thousand.” 

“ Two thousand! ” repeated the Cat. 

“ But how is it possible that they could have 
become so many? ” asked Pinocchio, remaining 
with his mouth open from astonishment. 

“ I will explain it to you at once,” said the 
Fox. “ You must know that in the land of the 
Owls there is a sacred field called by everybody 


62 


PINOCCHIO 


the Field of miracles. In this field you must 
dig a little hole, and you put into it, we will 
say, one gold sovereign. You then cover up 
the hole with a little earth: you must water 
it with two pails of water from the fountain, 
then sprinkle it with two pinches of salt, and 
when night comes you can go quietly to bed. 
In the meanwhile, during the night, the gold 
piece will grow and flower, and in the morning 
when you get up and return to the field, what 
do you find? You find a beautiful tree laden 
with as many gold sovereigns as a fine ear of 
corn has grains in the month of June.” 

“ So that,” said Pinocchio, more and more 
bewildered, “ supposing I buried my five 
sovereigns in that field, how many should I 
find there the following morning? ” 

“ That is an exceedingly easy calculation,” 
replied the Fox, “ a calculation that you can 
make on the ends of your fingers. Put that 
every sovereign gives you an increase of five 
hundred: multiply five hundred by five, and the 
following morning will find you with two 
thousand five hundred shining gold pieces in 
your pocket.” 

“Oh! how delightful!” cried Pinocchio, 
dancing for joy. “ As soon as ever I have 
obtained those sovereigns, I will keep two 


PINOCCHIO 


63 


thousand for myself, and the other five hundred 
I will make a present of to you two.” 

“ A present to us? ” cried the Fox with in¬ 
dignation and appearing much offended. 
“ What are you dreaming of? ” 

“What are you dreaming of?” repeated 
the Cat. 

“We do not work,” said the Fox, “ for 
dirty interest: we work solely to enrich others.” 

“ Others! ” repeated the Cat. 

“What good people!” thought Pinocchio 
to himself: and forgetting there and then his 
papa, the new coat, the Spelling-book, and all 
his good resolutions, he said to the Fox and the 
Cat: 

“ Let us be off at once. I will go with you.” 


XIII 


THE INN OF THE RED CRAW-FISH 
HEY walked, and walked, and walked, 



until at last, towards evening, they 


arrived dead tired at the inn of The 
Red Craw-fish. 

“ Let us stop here a little,” said the Fox, 
“ that we may have something to eat and rest 
ourselves for an hour or two. We will start 
again at midnight, so as to arrive at the Field 
of miracles by dawn to-morrow morning.” 

Having gone into the inn they all three sat 
down to table: but none of them had any 
appetite. 

The Cat, who was suffering from indiges¬ 
tion and feeling seriously indisposed, could 
only eat thirty-five mullet with tomato sauce, 
and four portions of tripe with Parmesan 
cheese; and because she thought the tripe was 
not seasoned enough, she asked three times for 
the butter and grated cheese! 

The Fox would also willingly have picked 
a little, hut as his doctor had ordered him a 
strict diet, he was forced to content himself 
simply with a hare dressed with a sweet and 
sour sauce, and garnished lightly with fat 
chickens and early pullets. After the hare he 
sent for a made dish of partridges, rabbits, 

64 



THE ONE WHO ATE THE LEAST WAS PINOCCHIO 














If 









w 


r 







PINOCCHIO 


65 


frogs, lizards, and other delicacies; he could 
not touch anything else. He had such a dis¬ 
gust to food, he said, that he could put nothing 
to his lips. 

The one who ate the least was Pinocchio. 
He asked for some walnuts and a hunch of 
bread, and left everything on his plate. The 
poor boy, whose thoughts were continually 
fixed on the Field of miracles, had got in antici¬ 
pation an indigestion of gold pieces. 

When they had supped, the Fox said to the 
host: 

“ Give us two good rooms, one for Mr. 
Pinocchio, and the other for me and my com¬ 
panion. We will snatch a little sleep before 
we leave. Remember that at midnight we wish 
to be called to continue our journey.” 

“ Yes, gentlemen,” answered the host, and 
he winked at the Fox and the Cat, as much as 
to say: “ I know what you are up to. We 
understand one another! ” 

No sooner had Pinocchio got into bed than 
he fell asleep at once and began to dream. And 
he dreamt that he was in the middle of a field, 
and the field was full of shrubs covered with 
clusters of gold sovereigns, and as they swung 
in the wind they went zin, zin, zin, almost as 
if they would say: “ Let who will, come and 
take us.” But when Pinocchio was at the most 


5 


66 


PINOCCHIO 


interesting moment, that is, just as he was 
stretching out his hand to pick handfuls of 
those beautiful gold pieces and to put them in 
his pocket, he was suddenly wakened by three 
violent blows on the door of his room. 

It was the host who had come to tell him 
that midnight had struck. 

“ Are my companions ready? ” asked the 
puppet. 

“ Ready! Why, they left two hours ago.” 

“ Why were they in such a hurry? ” 

“ Because the Cat had received a message 
to say that her eldest kitten was ill with chil¬ 
blains on his feet, and was in danger of death.” 

“ Did they pay for the supper? ” 

“ What are you thinking of? They are 
much too well educated to dream of offering 
such an insult to a gentleman like you.” 

“ What a pity! It is an insult that would 
have given me so much pleasure! ” said Pinoc- 
chio, scratching his head. He then asked: 

“ And where did my good friends say they 
would wait for me? ” 

“ At the Field of miracles, to-morrow 
morning at daybreak.” 

Pinocchio paid a sovereign for his supper 
and that of his companions, and then left. 

Outside the inn it was so pitch dark that he 
had almost to grope his way, for it was im- 


PINOCCHIO 


67 


possible to see a hand’s breadth in front of him. 
In the adjacent country not a leaf moved. Only 
some night-birds flying across the road from 
one hedge to the other brushed Pinocchio’s 
nose with their wings as they passed, which 
caused him so much terror that, springing back, 
he shouted: “ Who goes there? ” and the echo 
in the surrounding hills repeated in the dis¬ 
tance: “Who goes there? Who goes there? 
Who goes there? ” 

As he was walking along he saw a little 
insect shining dimly on the trunk of a tree, 
like a night-light in a lamp of transparent china. 

“ Who are you? ” asked Pinocchio. 

“ I am the ghost of the Talking-cricket,” 
answered the insect in a low voice, so weak and 
faint that it seemed to come from the other 
world. 

“ What do you want with me?” said the 
puppet. 

“ I want to give you some advice. Go back, 
and take the four sovereigns that you have left 
to your poor father, who is weeping and in 
despair because you have never returned.” 

“ By to-morrow my papa will be a gentle¬ 
man, for these four sovereigns will have be¬ 
come two thousand.” 

“ Don’t trust, my boy, to those who promise 
to make you rich in a day. Usually they are 


68 PINOCCHIO 

either mad or rogues! Give ear to me, and go 
back.” 

“ On the contrary, I’m determined to go on.” 

“ The hour is late! . . .” 

“ I am determined to go on.” 

“ The night is dark! . . .” 

“ I am determined to go on.” 

“ The road is dangerous! . . .” 

“ I am determined to go on.” 

“ Remember that boys who are bent on 
following their caprices, and will have their 
own way, sooner or later repent it.” 

“ Always the same stories. Good-night, 
Cricket.” 

“ Good-night, Pinocchio, and may Heaven 
preserve you from dangers and from assassins.” 

No sooner had he said these words than the 
Talking-cricket vanished suddenly like a light 
that has been blown out, and the road became 
darker than ever. 


XIV 

PINOCCHIO, BECAUSE HE WOULD NOT HEED THE 
GOOD COUNSELS OF THE TALKING-CRICKET, 
FALLS AMONGST ASSASSINS 


R E 


**T^EALLY,” said the puppet to himself 
as he resumed his journey, “ how un¬ 
fortunate we poor boys are. Every¬ 
body scolds us, everybody admonishes us, 
everybody gives us good advice. To let them 
talk, they would all take it into their heads to 
be our fathers and our masters—all: even the 
Talking-cricket. See now; because I don’t 
choose to listen to that tiresome Cricket, who 
knows, according to him, how many misfor¬ 
tunes are to happen to me! I am even to meet 
with assassins! That is, however, of little con¬ 
sequence, for I don’t believe in assassins—I 
have never believed in them. For me, I think 
that assassins have been invented purposely by 
papas to frighten boys who want to go out at 
night. Besides, supposing I was to come across 
them here in the road, do you imagine they 
would frighten me? not the least in the world. 
I should go to meet them and cry: ‘ Gentlemen 
assassins, what do you want with me? Remem¬ 
ber that with me there is no joking. There¬ 
fore go about your business and be quiet! ’ At 
this speech, said in a determined tone, those 


70 


PINOCCHIO 


poor assassins—I think I see them—would run 
away like the wind. If, however, they were so 
badly educated as not to run away, why, then, 
I would run away myself, and there would be 
an end of it. . . .” 

But Pinocchio had not time to finish his 
reasoning, for at that moment he thought that 
he heard a slight rustle of leaves behind him. 

He turned to look, and saw in the gloom 
two evil-looking black figures completely en¬ 
veloped in charcoal sacks. They were running 
after him on tiptoe, and making great leaps 
like two phantoms. 

“ Here they are in reality! ” he said to him¬ 
self, and not knowing where to hide his gold 
pieces he put them in his mouth precisely under 
his tongue. 

Then he tried to escape. But he had not 
gone a step when he felt himself seized by the 
arm, and heard two horrid sepulchral voices 
saying to him: 

“ Your money or your life! ” 

Pinocchio, not being able to answer in 
words, owing to the money that was in his 
mouth, made a thousand low bows and a thou¬ 
sand pantomimes. He tried thus to make the 
two muffled figures, whose eyes were only visible 
through the holes in their sacks, understand 


PINOCCHIO 


71 


that he was a poor puppet, and that he had 
not as much as a false farthing in his pocket. 

“ Come now! Less nonsense and out with 
the money! ” cried the two brigands threat¬ 
eningly. 

And the puppet made a gesture with his 
hands to signify: “ I have got none.” 

“ Deliver up your money or you are dead,” 
said the tallest of the brigands. 

“ Dead! ” repeated the other. 

“ And after we have killed you, we will 
also kill your father.” 

“ Also your father! ” 

“No, no, no, not my poor papa!” cried 
Pinocchio in a despairing tone; and as he said 
it, the sovereigns clinked in his mouth. 

“ Ah! you rascal! Then you have hidden 
your money under your tongue! Spit it out 
at once! ” 

But Pinocchio was obdurate. 

“Ah! you pretend to be deaf, do you? Wait 
a moment, leave it to us to find a means to make 
you spit it out.” 

And one of them seized the puppet by the 
end of his nose, and the other took him by the 
chin, and began to pull them brutally, the one 
up and the other down, to constrain him to 
open his mouth. But it was all to no purpose. 


72 PINOCCHIO 

Pinocchio’s mouth seemed to be nailed and 
riveted together. 

Then the shorter assassin drew out an ugly 
knife and tried to force it between his lips like 
a lever or chisel. But Pinocchio, as quick as 
lightning, caught his hand with his teeth, and 
with one bite bit it clean off and spat it out. 
Imagine his astonishment when instead of a 
hand he perceived that he had spat a cat's paw 
on to the ground. 

Encouraged by this first victory he used his 
nails to such purpose that he succeeded in lib¬ 
erating himself from his assailants, and jump¬ 
ing the hedge by the roadside he began to fly 
across country. The assassins ran after him 
like two dogs chasing a hare: and the one who 
had lost a paw ran on one leg, and no one ever 
knew how he managed it. 

After a race of some miles Pinocchio could 
do no more. Giving himself up for lost he 
climbed the stem of a very high pine tree and 
seated himself in the topmost branches. The 
assassins attempted to climb after him, but 
when they had reached half-way up the stem 
they slid down again, and arrived on the ground 
with the skin grazed from their hands and knees. 

But they were not to be beaten by so little: 
collecting a quantity of dry wood they piled it 
beneath the pine and set fire to it. In less time 


PINOCCHIO 


73 


than it takes to tell the pine began to burn and 
to flame like a candle blown by the wind. Pin¬ 
occhio, seeing that the flames were mounting 
higher every instant, and not wishing to end 
his life like a roasted pigeon, made a stupendous 
leap from the top of the tree and started afresh 
across the fields and vineyards. The assassins 
followed him, and kept behind him without once 
giving in. 

The day began to break and they were still 
pursuing him. Suddenly Pinocchio found his 
way barred by a wide deep ditch full of dirty 
water the colour of coffee. What was he to 
do ? “ One! two! three! ” cried the puppet, and 
making a rush he sprang to the other side. The 
assassins also jumped, but not having measured 
the distance properly—splash, splash!.. . they 
fell into the very middle of the ditch. Pinoc¬ 
chio, who heard the plunge and the splashing 
of the water, shouted out, laughing, and with¬ 
out stopping: 

“ A fine bath to you, gentleman assassins.” 

And he felt convinced that they were 
drowned, when, turning to look, he perceived 
that on the contrary they were both running 
after him, still enveloped in their sacks, with 
the water dripping from them as if they had 
been two hollow baskets. 


XV 


THE ASSASSINS PURSUE PINOCCHIO; AND HAVING 

OVERTAKEN HIM HANG HIM TO A BRANCH OF 

THE BIG OAK 

AT this sight the puppet’s courage failed 
him, and he was on the point of throw- 
ing himself on the ground and giving 
himself over for lost. Turning, however, his 
eyes in every direction, he saw at some distance, 
standing out amidst the dark green of the trees, 
a small house as white as snow. 

“ If I had only breath to reach that house,” 
he said to himself, “ perhaps I should be saved.” 

And without delaying an instant, he recom¬ 
menced running for his life through the wood, 
and the assassins after him. 

At last, after a desperate race of nearly 
two hours, he arrived quite breathless at the 
door of the house, and knocked. 

No one answered. 

He knocked again with great violence, for 
he heard the sound of steps approaching him, 
and the heavy panting of his persecutors. The 
same silence. 

Seeing that knocking was useless he began 
in desperation to kick and pommel the door 
with all his might. The window then opened 
and a beautiful Child appeared at it. She had 

74 


PINOCCHIO 


75 


blue hair and a face as white as a waxen image; 
her eyes were closed and her hands were crossed 
on her breast. Without moving her lips in 
the least, she said in a voice that seemed to 
come from the other world: 

“ In this house there is no one. They are 
all dead.” 

“ Then at least open the door for me your¬ 
self,” shouted Pinocchio, crying and imploring. 

“ I am dead also.” 

“ Then what are you doing at the window? ” 

“ I am waiting for the bier to come to carry 
me away.” 

Having said this she disappeared, and the 
window was closed without the slightest noise. 

“ Oh! beautiful Child with blue hair,” cried 
Pinocchio, “open the door for pity's sake! 
Have compassion on a poor boy pursued by 
assas...” 

But he could not finish the word, for he 
felt himself seized by the collar, and the same 
two horrible voices said to him threateningly: 

“ You shall not escape from us again! ” 

The puppet, seeing death staring him in 
the face, was taken with such a violent fit of 
trembling that the joints of his wooden legs 
began to creak, and the sovereigns hidden under 
his tongue to clink. 


76 


PINOCCHIO 


“ Now then,” demanded the assassins, “ will 
you open your mouth, yes or no? Ah! no an¬ 
swer? ... Leave it to us: this time we will force 
you to open it! . . .” 

And drawing out two long knives as sharp 
as razors, clash . . . they attempted to stab him. 

But the puppet, luckily for him, was made 
of very hard wood; the knives therefore broke 
into a thousand pieces, and the assassins were 
left with the handles in their hands staring at 
each other. 

“ I see what we must do,” said one of them. 
“ He must be hung! let us hang him! ” 

“ Let us hang him! ” repeated the other. 

Without loss of time they tied his arms be¬ 
hind him, passed a running noose round his 
throat, and then hung him to the branch of a 
tree called the Big Oak. 

They then sat down on the grass and waited 
for his last struggle. But at the end of three 
hours the puppet’s eyes were open, his mouth 
closed, and he was kicking more than ever. 

Losing patience they turned to Pinocchio 
and said in a bantering tone: 

“ Good-bye till to-morrow. Let us hope 
that when we return you will be polite enough 
to allow yourself to be found quite dead, and 
with your mouth wide open.” 

And they walked off. 


PINOCCHIO 


77 


In the meantime a tempestuous northerly 
wind began to blow and roar angrily and it 
beat the poor puppet as he hung, from side to 
side, making him swing violently like the clatter 
of a bell ringing for a wedding. And the swing¬ 
ing gave him atrocious spasms, and the run¬ 
ning noose, becoming still tighter round his 
throat, took away his breath. 

Little by little his eyes began to grow dim, 
but although he felt that death was near he 
still continued to hope that some charitable 
person would come to his assistance before it 
was too late. But when, after waiting and wait¬ 
ing, he found that no one came, absolutely no 
one, then he remembered his poor father, and 
thinking he was dying ... he stammered out: 

“ Oh, papa! papa! if only you were here! ” 
His breath failed him and he could say no 
more. He shut his eyes, opened his mouth, 
stretched his legs, gave a long shudder, and 
hung stiff and insensible. 


XVI 


THE BEAUTIFUL CHILD WITH BLUE HAIR HAS 
THE PUPPET TAKEN DOWN: HAS HIM PUT 
TO BED AND CALLS IN THREE DOCTORS TO 
KNOW IF HE IS ALIVE OR DEAD 



HILST poor Pinocchio, suspended 


to a branch of the Big Oak, was ap¬ 


parently more dead than alive, the 
beautiful Child with blue hair came again to 
the window. When she saw the unhappy pup¬ 
pet hanging by his throat, and dancing up and 
down in the gusts of the north wind, she was 
moved by compassion. Striking her hands to¬ 
gether she made three little claps. 

At this signal there came a sound of the 
sweep of wings flying rapidly, and a large 
Falcon flew on to the window-sill. 

“ What are your orders, gracious Fairy? ” 
he asked, inclining his beak in sign of rever¬ 
ence—for I must tell you that the Child with 
blue hair was no more and no less than a beau¬ 
tiful Fairy, who for more than a thousand 
years had lived in the wood. 

“ Do you see that puppet dangling from 
a branch of the Big Oak? ” 

“ I see him.” 

“ Very well. Fly there at once: with your 
strong beak break the knot that keeps him sus- 

78 


PINOCCHIO 


79 


pended in the air, and lay him gently on the 
grass at the foot of the tree.” 

The Falcon flew away, and after two 
minutes he returned, saying: 

“ I have done as you commanded.” 

“ And how did you find him? ” 

“ To see him he appeared dead, but he can¬ 
not really be quite dead, for I had no sooner 
loosened the running noose that tightened his 
throat than, giving a sigh, he muttered in a 
faint voice: ‘ Now I feel better! . . .’ ” 

The Fairy then striking her hands together 
made two little claps, and a magnificent Poodle 
appeared, walking upright on his hind-legs ex¬ 
actly as if he had been a man. 

He was in the full-dress livery of a coach¬ 
man. On his head he had a three-cornered cap 
braided with gold, his curly white wig came 
down on to his shoulders, he had a chocolate- 
colored waistcoat with diamond buttons, and 
two large pockets to contain the bones that his 
mistress gave him at dinner. He had besides 
a pair of short crimson velvet breeches, silk 
stockings, cut-down shoes, and hanging behind 
him a species of umbrella-case made of blue 
satin, to put his tail into when the weather was 
rainy. 

“ Be quick, Medoro, like a good dog! ” said 
the Fairy to the Poodle. “ Have the most beau- 


80 


PINOCCHIO 


tiful carriage in my coach-house put to, and 
take the road to the wood. When you come 
to the Big Oak you will find a poor puppet 
stretched on the grass half dead. Pick him up 
gently, lay him on the cushions of the carriage 
and bring him to me. Have you understood? ” 

The Poodle, to show that he had under¬ 
stood, shook the case of blue satin that he had 
on three or four times, and ran off like a race¬ 
horse. 

Shortly afterwards a beautiful little car¬ 
riage came out of the coach-house. The cushions 
were stuffed with canary feathers, and it was 
lined in the inside with whipped cream, custard, 
and Savoy biscuits. The little carriage was 
drawn by a hundred pairs of white mice, and 
the Poodle, seated on the coach-box, cracked 
his whip from side to side like a driver when 
he is afraid that he is behind time. 

A quarter of an hour had not passed when 
the carriage returned. The Fairy, who was 
waiting at the door of the house, took the poor 
puppet in her arms, and carried him into a 
little room that was wainscoted with mother- 
of-pearl, and sent at once to summon the most 
famous doctors in the neighbourhood. 

The doctors came immediately one after the 
other: namely a Crow, an Owl, and a Talking- 
cricket. 



THE CROW, ADVANCING FIRST, FELT PINOCCHIO S PULSE 




















PINOCCHIO 


81 


“ I wish to know from you gentlemen,” 
said the Fairy, turning to the three doctors 
who were assembled round Pinocchio’s bed— 
“ I wish to know from you gentlemen, if this 
unfortunate puppet is alive or dead!. . 

At this request the Crow, advancing first, 
felt Pinocchio’s pulse; he then felt his nose, 
and then the little toe of his foot: and having 
done this carefully, he pronounced solemnly the 
following words: 

“ To my belief the puppet is already quite 
dead; but if unfortunately he should not be 
dead, then it would be a sign that he is still 
alive! ” 

“ I regret,” said the Owl, “ to be obliged to 
contradict the Crow, my illustrious friend and 
colleague; but in my opinion the puppet is still 
alive: but if unfortunately he should not be 
alive, then it would be a sign that he is dead 
indeed! ” 

“ And you—have you nothing to say? ” 
asked the Fairy of the Talking-cricket. 

“In my opinion the wisest thing a prudent 
doctor can do, when he does not know what he 
is talking about, is to be silent. For the rest, 
that puppet there has a face that is not new to 
me. I have known him for some time!.. 

Pinocchio, who up to that moment had lain 
immovable, like a real piece of wood, was seized 

6 


82 PINOCCHIO 

with a fit of convulsive trembling that shook 
the whole bed. 

“ That puppet there,” continued the Talk¬ 
ing-cricket, “ is a confirmed rogue. . . .” 

Pinocchio opened his eyes, but shut them 
again immediately. 

“ He is a ragamuffin, a do-nothing, a vaga¬ 
bond. . . .” 

Pinocchio hid his face beneath the clothes. 

“ That puppet there is a disobedient son 
who will make his poor father die of a broken 
heart! . . 

At that instant a suffocated sound of sobs 
and crying was heard in the room. Imagine 
everybody’s astonishment when, having raised 
the sheets a little, it was discovered that the 
sounds came from Pinocchio. 

“ When the dead person cries, it is a sign 
that he is on the road to get well,” said the 
Crow solemnly. 

I grieve to contradict my illustrious friend 
and colleague,” added the Owl; “ but for me, 
when the dead person cries, it is a sign that he 
is sorry to die.” 


XVII 


PINOCCHIO EATS THE SUGAR, BUT WILL NOT 
TAKE HIS MEDICINE! WHEN, HOWEVER, HE 
SEES THE GRAVE-DIGGERS, WHO HAVE ARRIVED 
TO CARRY HIM AWAY, HE TAKES IT. HE 
THEN TELLS A LIE, AND AS A PUNISHMENT 
HIS NOSE GROWS LONGER 

soon as the three doctors had left the 



room the Fairy approached Pinocchio, 


and having touched his forehead she 
perceived that he was in a high fever that was 
not to be trifled with. 

She therefore dissolved a certain white 
powder in half a tumbler of water, and off ering 
it to the puppet she said to him lovingly: 

“ Drink it, and in a few days you will be 
cured.” 

Pinocchio looked at the tumbler, made a 
wry face, and then asked in a plaintive voice: 

“ Is it sweet or bitter? ” 

“ It is bitter, but it will do you good.” 

“ If it is bitter, I will not take it.” 

“ Listen to me: drink it.” 

“ I don’t like anything bitter.” 

“ Drink it, and when you have drunk it I 
will give you a lump of sugar to take away the 
taste.” 

“ Where is the lump of sugar? ” 


83 


84 


PINOCCHIO 


“ Here it is,” said the Fairy, taking a piece 
from a gold sugar-basin. 

“ Give me first the lump of sugar, and then 
I will drink that bad bitter water. ...” 

“ Do you promise me? ” 

“ Yes... .” 

The Fairy gave him the sugar, and Pinoc- 
chio, having crunched it up and swallowed it in 
a second, said, licking his lips: 

“ It would be a fine thing if sugar was 
medicine! ... I would take it every day.” 

“Now keep your promise and drink these 
few drops of water, which will restore you to 
health.” 

Pinocchio took the tumbler unwillingly in 
his hand and put the point of his nose to it: 
he then approached it to his lips: he then again 
put his nose to it, and at last said: 

“ It is too bitter! too bitter! I cannot drink 
it.” 

Flow can you tell that, when you have not 
even tasted it? ” 

“ I can imagine it! I know it from the 
smell. I want first another lump of sugar . . . 
afrd then I will drink it! . . .” 

The Faiiy then, with all the patience of a 
good mamma, put another lump of sugar in 
his mouth, and then again presented the 
tumbler to him. 


PINOCCHIO 


85 


“I cannot drink it so!” said the puppet, 
making a thousand grimaces. 

“ Why? ” 

“ Because that pillow that is down there 
on my feet bothers me.” 

The Fairy removed the pillow. 

“ It is useless. Even so I can’t drink it... 

“ What is the matter now? ” 

“ The door of the room, which is half open, 
bothers me.” 

The Fairy went and closed the door. 

“ In short,” cried Pinocchio, bursting into 
tears, “ I will not drink that bitter water—no, 
no, no! . . .” 

“ My boy, you will repent it. . . .” 

“ I don’t care. . . .” 

“ Your illness is serious. .. 

“ I don’t care. . . .” 

“ The fever in a few hours will carry you 
into the other world. . . .” 

“ I don’t care. . . .” 

“ Are you not afraid of death? ” 

“ I am not in the least afraid! . . . I would 
rather die than drink that bitter medicine.” 

At that moment the door of the room flew 
open, and four rabbits as black as ink entered 
carrying on their shoulders a little bier. 

“What do you want with me?” cried 
Pinocchio, sitting up in bed in a great fright. 


86 


PINOCCHIO 


“We are come to take you,” said the big¬ 
gest rabbit. 

“ To take me?... But I’m not yet dead!.. 

“No, not yet: but you have only a few 
minutes to live, as you have refused the medi¬ 
cine that would have cured you of the fever.” 

“ Oh, Fairy, Fairy! ” the puppet then be¬ 
gan to scream, “ give me the tumbler at once 
... be quick, for pity’s sake, for I will not die— 
no ... I will not die. . . 

And taking the tumbler in both hands he 
emptied it at a draught. 

“We must have patience!” said the rab¬ 
bits; “ this time we have made our journey in 
vain.” And taking the little bier again on their 
shoulders they left the room, grumbling and 
murmuring between their teeth. 

In fact, a few minutes afterwards Pinocchio 
jumped down from the bed quite well: because 
you must know that wooden puppets have the 
privilege of being seldom ill and of being cured 
very quickly. 

The Fairy, seeing him running and rushing 
about the room as gay and as lively as a young 
cock, said to him: 

“ Then my medicine has really done you 
good? ” 

“ Good, I should think so! It has restored 
me to life!.. 


PINOCCHIO 


87 


“ Then why on earth did you require so 
much persuasion to take it? ” 

“ Because you see that we boys are all like 
that! We are more afraid of medicine than 
of the illness.” 

“ Disgraceful! Boys ought to know that a 
good remedy taken in time may save them from 
serious illness, and perhaps from death. . . .” 

“ Oh! but another time I shall not require so 
much persuasion. I shall remember those black 
rabbits with the bier on their shoulders . . . 
and then I shall immediately take the tumbler 
in my hand, and down it will go! . . .” 

“ Now come here to me, and tell me how 
you fell into the hands of those assassins.” 

“ It came about that the showman Fire- 
eater gave me some gold pieces and said to me: 
‘ Go, and take them to your father! ’ and in¬ 
stead I met on the road a Fox and a Cat, two 
very respectable persons, who said to me: 
‘ Would you like those pieces of gold to become 
a thousand or two? Come with us and we will 
take you to the Field of miracles,’ and I said: 
‘ Let us go.’ And they said: ‘ Let us stop at 
the inn of the Red Craw-fish,’ and after mid¬ 
night they left. And when I awoke I found 
that they were no longer there, because they 
had gone away. Then I began to travel by 
night, for you cannot imagine how dark it was; 


88 


PINOCCHIO 


and on that account I met on the road two 
assassins in charcoal sacks who said to me: 
4 Out with your money, 5 and I said to them: 
4 I have got none, 5 because I had hidden the 
four gold pieces in my mouth, and one of the 
assassins tried to put his hand in my mouth, 
and I bit his hand off and spat it out, but in¬ 
stead of a hand I spat out a cat’s paw. And 
the assassins ran after me, and I ran, and ran, 
until at last they caught me, and tied me by 
the neck to a tree in this wood, and said to me: 
4 To-morrow we shall return here, and then you 
will be dead with your mouth open, and we 
shall be able to carry off the pieces of gold 
that you have hidden under your tongue. 5 55 

44 And the four pieces—where have you put 
them? ” asked the Fairy. 

44 1 have lost them! 55 said Pinocchio; but 
he was telling a lie, for they were in his pocket. 

He had scarcely told the lie when his nose, 
which was already long, grew at once two 
fingers longer. 

“ And where did you lose them? 55 

“ In the wood near here.” 

At this second lie his nose went on growing. 

44 If you have lost them in the wood near 
here, 5 ’ said the Fairy, 44 we will look for them, 
and we shall find them: because everything that 
is lost in that wood is always found. 55 


PINOCCHIO 


89 


“ Ah! now I remember all about it,” replied 
the puppet, getting quite confused; “ I didn’t 
lose the four gold pieces, I swallowed them 
whilst I was drinking your medicine.” 

At this third lie his nose grew to such an 
extraordinary length that poor Pinocchio could 
not move in any direction. If he turned to 
one side he struck his nose against the bed or 
the window-panes, if he turned to the other he 
struck it against the walls or the door, if he 
raised his head a little he ran the risk of sticking 
it into one of the Fairy’s eyes. 

And the Fairy looked at him and laughed. 

“ What are you laughing at? ” asked the 
puppet, very confused and anxious at finding 
his nose growing so prodigiously. 

“ I am laughing at the lie you have told.” 

“ And how can you possibly know that I 
have told a lie? ” 

“ Lies, my dear boy, are found out imme¬ 
diately, because they are of two sorts. There 
are lies that have short legs, and lies that have 
long noses. Your lie, as it happens, is one of 
those that have a long nose.” 

Pinocchio, not knowing where to hide him¬ 
self for shame, tried to run out of the room; 
but he did not succeed, for his nose had in¬ 
creased so much that it could no longer pass 
through the door. 


XVIII 

PINOCCHIO MEETS AGAIN THE FOX AND THE CAT, 
AND GOES WITH THEM TO BURY HIS MONEY 
IN THE FIELD OF MIRACLES 

T HE Fairy, as you can imagine, allowed 
the puppet to cry and to roar for a good 
half-hour over his nose, which could no 
longer pass through the door of the room. This 
she did to give him a severe lesson, and to cor¬ 
rect him of the disgraceful fault of telling lies— 
the most disgraceful fault that a boy can have. 
But when she saw him quite disfigured, and 
his eyes swollen out of his head from weeping, 
she felt full of compassion for him. She there¬ 
fore beat her hands together, and at that signal 
a thousand large birds called Woodpeckers flew 
in at the window. They immediately perched 
on Pinocchio’s nose, and began to peck at it 
with such zeal that in a few minutes his 
enormous and ridiculous nose was reduced to 
its usual dimensions. 

“ What a good Fairy you are,” said the 
puppet, drying his eyes, “ and how much I love 
you!” 

“ I love you also,” answered the Fairy; 
“ and if you will remain with me, you shall be 
my little brother and I will be your good little 
sister. . . 

90 


PINOCCHIO 


91 


“ I would remain willingly .. . but my poor 
papa? ” 

“ I have thought of everything. I have 
already let your father know, and he will be 
here to-night.” 

“ Really? ” shouted Pinocchio, jumping for 
joy. ‘‘Then, little Fairy, if you consent, I 
should like to go and meet him. I am so anxious 
to give a kiss to that poor old man, who has 
suffered so much on my account, that I am 
counting the minutes.” 

“ Go, then, but be careful not to lose your¬ 
self. Take the road through the wood and I 
am sure that you will meet him.” 

Pinocchio set out; and as soon as he was 
in the wood he began to run like a kid. But 
when he had reached a certain spot, almost in 
front of the Big Oak, he stopped, because he 
thought that he heard people amongst the 
bushes. In fact, two persons came out on to 
the road. Can you guess who they were? . . . 
His two travelling companions, the Fox and 
the Cat, with whom he had supped at the inn 
of the Red Craw-fish. 

“ Why, here is our dear Pinocchio! ” cried 
the Fox, kissing and embracing him. “ How 
come you to be here? ” 

“ How come you to be here? ” repeated the 


Cat. 


92 


PINOCCHIO 


“ It is a long story,” answered the puppet, 
“ which I will tell you when I have time. But 
do you know that the other night, when you 
left me alone at the inn, I met with assassins 
on the road. .. 

“ Assassins!. . . Oh, poor Pinocchio! And 
what did they want ? ” 

“ They wanted to rob me of my gold pieces.” 

“ Villains! . . .” said the Fox. 

“ Infamous villains! ” repeated the Cat. 

“ But I ran away from them,” continued 
the puppet, “ and they followed me: and at 
last they overtook me and hung me to a branch 
of that oak-tree. ...” 

And Pinocchio pointed to the Big Oak, 
which was two steps from them. 

“ Is it possible to hear of anything more 
dreadful? ” said the Fox. “ In what a world 
we are condemned to live! Where can respect¬ 
able people like us find a safe refuge? ” 

Whilst they were thus talking Pinocchio 
observed that the Cat was lame of her front 
right leg, for in fact she had lost her paw with 
all its claws. He therefore asked her: 

“ What have you done with your paw? ” 

The Cat tried to answer but became con¬ 
fused. Therefore the Fox said immediately: 

“ My friend is too modest, and that is why 
she doesn’t speak. I will answer for her. I 


PINOCCHIQ 


93 


must tell you that an hour ag*o we met an old 
wolf on the road, almost fainting from want of 
food, who asked alms of us. Not having so 
much as a fish-bone to give him, what did my 
friend, who has really the heart of a Csesar, 
do? She bit off one of her fore paws, and 
threw it to that poor beast that he might ap¬ 
pease his hunger.” 

And the Fox, in relating this, dried a tear. 

Pinocchio was also touched, and approach¬ 
ing the Cat he whispered into her ear: 

“If all cats resembled you, how fortunate 
the mice would be! ” 

“ And now, what are you doing here? ” 
asked the Fox of the puppet. 

“ I am waiting for my papa, whom I expect 
to arrive every moment.” 

“ And your gold pieces? ” 

“ I have got them in my pocket, all but one 
that I spent at the inn of the Red Craw-fish.” 

“ And to think that, instead of four pieces, 
by to-morrow they might become one or two 
thousand! Why do you not listen to my ad¬ 
vice? why will you not go and bury them in 
the Field of miracles? ” 

“ To-day it is impossible: I will go another 
day.” 

“ Another day it will be too late!. . 99 said 
the Fox. 


94 


PINOCCHIO 


“ Why? ” 

“ Because the field has been bought by a 
gentleman, and after to-morrow no one will 
be allowed to bury money there.” 

• “ How far off is the Field of miracles? ” 

“ Not two miles. Will you come with us? 
In half an hour you will be there. You can 
bury your money at once, and in a few minutes 
you will collect two thousand, and this evening 
you will return with your pockets full. Will 
you come with us ? ” 

Pinocchio thought of the good Fairy, old 
Geppetto, and the warnings of the Talking- 
cricket, and he hesitated a little before answer¬ 
ing. He ended, however, by doing as all boys 
do who have not a grain of sense and who have 
no heart—he ended by giving his head a little 
shake, and saying to the Fox and the Cat: 

“ Let us go: I will come with you.” 

And they went. 

After having walked half the day they 
reached a town that was called “ Trap for block¬ 
heads.” As soon as Pinocchio entered this 
town, he saw that the streets were crowded with 
dogs who had lost their coats and who were 
yawning from hunger, shorn sheep trembling 
with cold, cocks without combs or crests who 
were begging for a grain of Indian corn, large 
butterflies who could no longer fly because they 


PINOCCHIO 


95 


had sold their beautiful coloured wings, pea¬ 
cocks who had no tails and were ashamed to 
be seen, and pheasants who went scratching 
about in a subdued fashion, mourning for their 
brilliant gold and silver feathers gone for ever. 

In the midst of this crowd of beggars and 
shamefaced creatures, some lordly carriage 
passed from time to time containing a Fox, or 
a Magpie, or some other ravenous bird of prey. 

“And where is the Field of miracles?” 
asked Pinocchio. 

“ It is here, not two steps from us.” 

They crossed the town, and having gone 
beyond the walls they came to a solitary field 
which to look at resembled all other fields. 

“We are arrived,” said the Fox to the pup¬ 
pet. “ Now stoop down and dig a little hole in 
the ground and put your gold pieces into it.” 

Pinocchio obeyed. He dug a hole, put into 
it the four gold pieces that he had left, and then 
filled up the hole with a little earth. 

“Now, then,” said the Fox, “go to that 
canal close to us, fetch a can of water, and water 
the ground where you have sowed them.” 

Pinocchio went to the canal, and as he had 
no can he took off one of his old shoes, and 
filling it with water he watered the ground over 
the hole. 

He then asked : 


96 


PINOCCHIO 


“ Is there anything else to be done? ” 

“ Nothing else/’ answered the Fox. “ We 
can now go away. You can return in about 
twenty minutes, and you will find a shrub 
already pushing through the ground, with its 
branches quite loaded with money.” 

The poor puppet, beside himself with joy, 
thanked the Fox and the Cat a thousand times, 
and promised them a beautiful present. 

“ We wish for no presents/’ answered the 
two rascals. “It is enough for us to have 
taught you the way to enrich yourself without 
undergoing hard work, and we are as happy 
as folk out for a holiday.” 

Thus saying they left Pinocchio, and, wishing 
him a good harvest, went about their business. 


XIX 


PINOCCHIO IS ROBBED OF HIS MONEY, AND AS A 
PUNISHMENT HE IS SENT TO PRISON FOR 
FOUR MONTHS 

HE puppet returned to the town and 



began to count the minutes one by one; 


and when he thought that it must be 
time he took the road leading to the Field of 
miracles. 

And as he walked along with hurried steps 
his heart beat fast tic, tac, tic, tac, like a draw¬ 
ing-room clock when it is really going well. 
Meanwhile he was thinking to himself: 

“ And if instead of a thousand gold pieces, 
I was to find on the branches of the tree two 
thousand? . . . And instead of two thousand 
supposing I found five thousand? and instead 
of five thousand that I found a hundred thou¬ 
sand? Oh! what a fine gentleman I should then 
become! ... I would have a beautiful palace, 
a thousand little wooden horses and a thousand 
stables to amuse myself with, a cellar full of 
currant-wine and sweet syrups, and a library 
quite full of candies, tarts, plum-cakes, maca¬ 
roons, and biscuits with cream.” 

Whilst he was building these castles in the 
air he had arrived in the neighbourhood of the 
field, and he stopped to look if by chance he 


97 


98 


PINOCCHIO 


could perceive a tree with its branches laden 
with money: but he saw nothing. He advanced 
another hundred steps—nothing: he entered 
the field ... he went right up to the little hole 
where he had buried his sovereigns—and noth¬ 
ing. He then became very thoughtful, and for¬ 
getting the rules of society and good manners 
he took his hands out of his pockets and gave his 
head a long scratch. 

At that moment he heard an explosion of 
laughter close to him, and looking up he saw a 
large Parrot perched on a tree, who was prun¬ 
ing the few feathers he had left. 

“ Why are you laughing? ” asked Pinoc- 
chio in an angry voice. 

“ I am laughing because in pruning my 
feathers I tickled myself under my wings.” 

The puppet did not answer, but went to the 
canal and, filling the same old shoe full of 
water, he proceeded to water the earth afresh 
that covered his gold pieces. 

Whilst he was thus occupied another laugh, 
and still more impertinent than the first, rang 
out in the silence of that solitary place. 

“ Once for all,” shouted Pinocchio in a rage, 
“ may I know, you ill-educated Parrot, what 
you are laughing at? ” 

“ I am laughing at those simpletons who 
believe in all the foolish things that are told 



HE BEGAN WITH HIS HANDS AND NAILS TO DIG UP THE EARTH THAT 

HE HAD WATERED 







/ 


/ 



PINOCCHIO 


99 


them, and who allow themselves to be entrapped 
by those who are more cunning than they are.” 

“ Are you perhaps speaking of me? ” 

“ Yes, I am speaking of you, poor Pinoc- 
chio—of you who are simple enough to believe 
that money can be sown and gathered in fields 
in the same way as beans and gourds. I also 
believed it once, and to-day I am suffering for 
it. To-day—but it is too late—I have at last 
learnt that to put a few pennies honestly to¬ 
gether it is necessary to know how to earn 

them, either by the work of our own hands or 
by the cleverness of our own brains.” 

“ I don’t understand you,” said the puppet, 
who was already trembling with fear. 

“ Have patience! I will explain myself bet¬ 
ter,” rejoined the Parrot. “ You must know, 

then, that whilst you were in the town the Fox 
and the Cat returned to the field: they took 
the buried money and then fled like the wind. 
And now he that catches them will be clever.” 

Pinocchio remained with his mouth open, 
and not choosing to believe the Parrot’s words 
he began with his hands and nails to dig up the 
earth that he had watered. And he dug, and 
dug, and dug, and made such a deep hole that 
a rick of straw might have stood upright in it: 
but the money was no longer there. 


100 


PINOCCHIO 


He rushed back to the town in a state of 
desperation, and went at once to the Courts of 
Justice to denounce the two knaves who had 
robbed him to the judge. 

The judge was a big ape of the gorilla 
tribe—an old ape respectable for his age, his 
white beard, but especially for his gold spec¬ 
tacles without glasses that he was obliged to 
wear, on account of an inflammation of the 
eyes that had tormented him for many years. 

Pinocchio related in the presence of the 
judge all the particulars of the infamous fraud 
of which he had been the victim. He gave the 
names, the surnames, and other details, of the 
two rascals, and ended by demanding justice. 

The judge listened with great benignity; 
took a lively interest in the story; was much 
touched and moved; and when the puppet had 
nothing further to say stretched out his hand 
and rang a bell. 

At this summons two mastiffs immediately 
appeared dressed as gendarmes. The judge 
then, pointing to Pinocchio, said to them: 

“ That poor devil has been robbed of four 
gold pieces; take him up, and put him imme¬ 
diately to prison. 55 

The puppet was petrified on hearing this 
unexpected sentence, and tried to protest; but 


PINOCCHIO 


101 


the gendarmes, to avoid losing time, stopped 
up his mouth, and carried him off to the lock-up. 

And there he remained for four months— 
four long months—and he would have remained 
longer still if a fortunate chance had not re¬ 
leased him. For I must tell you that the young 
Emperor who reigned over the town of “ Trap 
for blockheads,” having won a splendid victory 
over his enemies, ordered great public rejoic¬ 
ings. There were illuminations, fire-works, 
horse races, and velocipede races, and as a 
further sign of triumph he commanded that 
the prisons should be opened and all the pris¬ 
oners liberated. 

“If the others are to be let out of prison, 
I will go also,” said Pinocchio to the jailor. 

“ No, not you,” said the jailor, “ because 
you do not belong to the fortunate class.” 

“ I beg your pardon,” replied Pinocchio, “ I 
am also a criminal.” 

“ In that case you are perfectly right,” said 
the jailor; and taking off his hat and bowing 
to him respectfully he opened the prison doors 
and let him escape. 


LIBERATED FROM PRISON, HE STARTS TO RETURN 
TO THE FAIRY'S HOUSE; BUT ON THE ROAD 
HE MEETS WITH A HORRIBLE SERPENT, AND 
AFTERWARDS HE IS CAUGHT IN A TRAP 

OU can imagine Pinocchio’s joy when he 



found himself free. Without stopping 


to take breath he immediately left the 
town and took the road that led to the Fairy’s 
house. 

On account of the rainy weather the road had 
become a marsh into which he sank knee-deep. 
But the puppet would not give in. Tormented 
by the desire of seeing his father and his little 
sister with blue hair again he ran and leapt like 
a greyhound, and as he ran he was splashed with 
mud from head to foot. And he said to him¬ 
self as he went along: “ How many misfortunes 
have happened to me . . . and I deserved 
them! for I am an obstinate, passionate puppet. 
... I am always bent upon having my own 
way, without listening to those who wish me 
well, and who have a thousand times more sense 
than I have! . . . But from this time forth 
I am determined to change and to become or¬ 
derly and obedient. . . . For at last I have 
seen that disobedient boys come to no good and 
gain nothing, And will my papa have waited 


PINOCCHIO 


103 


for me? Shall I find him at the Fairy’s house? 
Poor man, it is so long since I last saw him: I 
am dying to embrace him, and to cover him with 
kisses! And will the Fairy forgive me my bad 
conduct to her? . . . To think of all the kind¬ 
ness and loving care I received from her . . . 
to think that if I am now alive I owe it to her! 
. . . Would it be possible to find a more 
ungrateful boy, or one with less heart than I 
have! . . 

Whilst he was saying this he stopped sud¬ 
denly, frightened to death, and made four steps 
backwards. 

What had he seen? . . . 

He had seen an immense Serpent stretched 
across the road. Its skin was green, it had red 
eyes, and a pointed tail that was smoking like 
a chimney. 

It would be impossible to imagine the pup¬ 
pet’s terror. He walked away to a safe dis¬ 
tance, and sitting down on a heap of stones 
waited until the Serpent should have gone about 
its business and had left the road clear. 

He waited an hour; two hours; three hours; 
but the Serpent was always there, and even 
from a distance he could see the red light of 
his fiery eyes and the column of smoke that 
ascended from the end of his tail. 

At last Pinocchio, trying to feel courageous, 


104 


PINOCCHIO 


approached to within a few steps, and said to 
the Serpent in a little, soft, insinuating voice: 

“ Excuse me, Sir Serpent, but would you be 
so good as to move a little to one side, just 
enough to allow me to pass? ” 

He might as well have spoken to the wall. 
Nobody moved. 

He began again in the same soft voice: 

“ You must know, Sir Serpent, that I am on 
my way home, where my father is waiting for 
me, and it is such a long time since I saw him 
last!... Will you therefore allow me to pass? ” 

He waited for a sign in answer to this re¬ 
quest, but there was none: in fact, the Serpent, 
who up to that moment had been sprightly and 
full of life, became motionless and almost rigid. 
He shut his eyes and his tail ceased smoking. 

“ Can he really be dead? ” said Pinocchio, 
rubbing his hands with delight; and he de¬ 
termined to jump over him and reach the other 
side of the road. But just as he was going to 
leap the Serpent raised himself suddenly on 
end, like a spring set in motion; and the pup¬ 
pet, drawing back, in his terror caught his feet 
and fell to the ground. 

And he fell so awkwardly that his head 
stuck in the mud and his legs went into the air. 

At the sight of the puppet kicking violently 
with his head in the mud the Serpent went into 


PINOCCHIO 


105 


convulsions of laughter, and he laughed, and 
laughed, and laughed, until from the violence 
of his laughter he broke a blood-vessel and died. 
And that time he was really dead. 

Pinocchio then set off running in hopes that 
he should reach the Fairy’s house before dark. 
But before long he began to suffer so dread¬ 
fully from hunger that he could not bear it, 
and he jumped into a field by the way-side 
intending to pick some bunches of muscatel 
grapes. Oh, that he had never done it! 

He had scarcely reached the vines when crack 
. . . his legs were caught between two cutting 
iron bars, and he became so giddy with pain 
that stars of every colour danced before his eyes. 

The poor puppet had been taken in a trap 
put there to capture some big polecats who 
were the scourge of the poultry-yards in the 
neighbourhood. 


XXI 

PINOCCHIO IS TAKEN BY A PEASANT, WHO 
OBLIGES HIM TO FILL THE PLACE OF HIS 
WATCH-DOG IN THE POULTRY-YARD 

P INOCCHIO, as you can imagine, began 
to cry and scream: but his tears and 
groans were useless, for there was not a 
house to be seen, and not a living soul passed 
down the road. 

At last night came on. 

Partly from the pain of the trap that cut 
his legs, and a little from fear at finding him¬ 
self alone in the dark in the midst of the fields, 
the puppet was on the point of fainting. Just 
at that moment he saw a Firefly flitting over 
his head. He called to it and said: 

“ Oh, little Firefly, will you have pity on 
me and liberate me from this torture? ” 

“ Poor boy! ” said the Firefly, stopping and 
looking at him with compassion, “ but how 
could your legs have been caught by those sharp 
irons? ” 

“ I came into the field to pick two bunches 
of these muscatel grapes, and ...” 

“ But were the grapes yours? ” 

“ No_” ' 

“ Then who taught you to carry off other 
people’s property? ” 

106 


PINOCCHIO 


107 


“ I was so hungry. . . .” 

“ Hunger, my boy, is not a good reason for 
appropriating what does not belong to us. . . 

“ That is true, that is true! ” said Pinocchio, 
crying. “ I will never do it again.” 

At this moment their conversation was in¬ 
terrupted by a slight sound of approaching 
footsteps. It was the owner of the field coming 
on tiptoe to see if one of the polecats that ate 
his chickens during the night had been caught 
in his trap. 

His astonishment was great when, having 
brought out his lantern from under his coat, 
he perceived that instead of a polecat a boy 
had been taken. 

“ Ah, little thief! ” said the angry peasant, 
“ then it is you who carry off my chickens? ” 

“ No, it is not I; indeed it is not! ” cried 
Pinocchio, sobbing. “ I only came into the 
field to take two bunches of grapes!.. .” 

“ He who steals grapes is quite capable of 
stealing chickens. Leave it to me, I will give 
you a lesson that you will not forget in a hurry.” 

Opening the trap he seized the puppet by 
the collar, and carried him to his house as if he 
had been a young lamb. 

When he reached the yard in front of the 
house he threw him roughly on the ground, and 
putting his foot on his neck he said to him: 


108 


PINOCCHIO 


“ It is late, and I want to go to bed; we 
will settle our accounts to-morrow. In the 
meanwhile, as the dog who kept guard at night 
died to-day, you shall take his place at once. 
You shall be my watch-dog.” 

And taking a great collar covered with 
brass knobs he strapped it tightly round his 
throat that he might not be able to draw his 
head out of it. A heavy chain attached to the 
collar was fastened to the wall. 

“ If it should rain to-night,” he then said to 
him, “ you can go and lie down in the kennel; 
the straw that has served as a bed for my poor 
dog for the last four years is still there. If 
unfortunately robbers should come, remember 
to keep your ears pricked and to bark.” 

After giving him this last injunction the 
man went into the house, shut the door, and 
put up the chain. 

Poor Pinocchio remained lying on the 
ground more dead than alive from the effects 
of cold, hunger, and fear. From time to time 
he put his hands angrily to the collar that tight¬ 
ened his throat and said, crying: 

“ It serves me right!... Decidedly it serves 
me right! I was determined to be a vagabond 
and a good-for-nothing. ... I would listen to 
bad companions, and that is why I always meet 
with misfortunes. If I had been a good little 


PINOCCHIO 


109 


boy as so many are; if I had been willing to 
learn and to work; if I had remained at home 
with my poor papa, I should not now be in the 
midst of the fields and obliged to be the watch¬ 
dog to a peasant’s house. Oh, if I could be 
born again! But now it is too late, and I must 
have patience! ” 

Believed by this little outburst, which came 
straight from his heart, he went into the dog- 
kennel and fell asleep, 


XXII 

PINOCCHIO DISCOVERS THE ROBBERS, AND AS A 
REWARD FOR HIS FIDELITY IS SET AT LIBERTY 

H E had been sleeping heavily for about 
two hours when, towards midnight, he 
was roused by a whispering of strange 
voices that seemed to come from the courtyard. 
Putting the point of his nose out of the kennel 
he saw four little beasts with dark fur, that 
looked like cats, standing consulting together. 
But they were not cats; they were polecats— 
carnivorous little animals, especially greedy 
for eggs and young chickens. One of the pole¬ 
cats, leaving his companions, came to the open¬ 
ing of the kennel and said in a low voice: 

“ Good evening, Melampo.” 

“ My name is not Melampo,” answered the 
puppet. 

“ Oh! then who are you? ” 

“ I am Pinocchio.” 

“ And what are you doing here? ” 

“ I am acting as watch-dog.” 

“ Then where is Melampo? Where is the 
old dog who lived in this kennel? ” 

“ He died this morning.” 

“ Is he dead ? Poor beast! He was so good. 
But judging you by your face I should say 
that you were also a good dog.” 
no 


PINOCCHIO 


111 


“ I beg your pardon, I am not a dog.” 

“ Not a dog? Then what are you? ” 

“ I am a puppet.” 

“ And you are acting as watch-dog? ” 

“ That is only too true—as a punishment.” 
“Well, then, I will offer you the same 
conditions that we made with the deceased 
Melampo, and I am sure you will be satisfied 
with them.” 

“ What are these conditions? ” 

“ One night in every week you are to per¬ 
mit us to visit this poultry-yard as we have 
hitherto done, and to carry off eight chickens. 
Of these chickens seven are to be eaten by us, 
and one we will give to you, on the express 
understanding, however, that you pretend to 
be asleep, and that it never enters your head 
to bark and to wake the peasant.” 

“ Did Melampo act in this manner? ” asked 
Pinocchio. 

“ Certainly, and we were always on the 
best terms with him. Sleep quietly, and rest 
assured that before we go we will leave by the 
kennel a beautiful chicken ready plucked for 
your breakfast to-morrow. Have we under¬ 
stood each other clearly? ” 

“ Only too clearly!...” answered Pinocchio, 
and he shook his head threateningly as much as 
to say: “ You shall hear of this shortly! ” 


112 


PINOCCHIO 


The four polecats thinking themselves safe 
repaired to the poultry-yard, which was close 
to the kennel, and having opened the wooden 
gate with their teeth and claws, they slipped in 
one by one. But they had only just passed 
through when they heard the gate shut behind 
them with great violence. 

It was Pinocchio who had shut it; and for 
greater security he put a large stone against it 
to keep it closed. 

He then began to bark, and he barked 
exactly like a watch-dog: bow-wow, bow-wow. 

Hearing the barking the peasant jumped 
out of bed, and taking his gun he came to the 
window and asked: 

“ What is the matter ? ” 

“ There are robbers! ” answered Pinocchio. 

“ Where are they? ” 

“ In the poultry-yard.” 

“ I will come down directly.” 

In fact, in less time than it takes to say 
Amen, the peasant came down. He rushed 
into the poultry-yard, caught the polecats, and 
having put them into a sack, he said to them in 
a tone of great satisfaction: 

“At last you have fallen into my hands! 
I might punish you, but I am not so cruel. I 
will content myself instead by carrying you 
in the morning to the innkeeper of the neigh- 


PINOCCHIO 


113 


bouring village, who will skin and cook you as 
hares with a sweet and sour sauce. It is an 
honour that you don’t deserve, but generous 
people like me don’t consider such trifles! . . 

He then approached Pinocchio and began 
to caress him, and amongst other things he 
asked him: 

“ How did you manage to discover the four 
thieves? To think that Melampo, my faithful 
Melampo, never found out anything! . . 

The puppet might then have told him the 
whole story; he might have informed him of 
the disgraceful conditions that had been made 
between the dog and the polecats; but he 
remembered that the dog was dead, and he 
thought to himself: 

“ What is the good of accusing the dead? 
. . . The dead are dead, and the best thing to 
be done is to leave them in peace! . . 

“ When the thieves got into the yard were 
you asleep or awake? ” the peasant went on to 
ask him. 

“ I was asleep,” answered Pinocchio, “ but 
the polecats woke me with their chatter, and 
one of them came to the kennel and said to me: 
‘ If you promise not to bark, and not to wake 
the master, we will make you a present of a 
fine chicken ready plucked!...’ To think that 
they should have had the audacity to make such 
8 


114 


PINOCCHIO 


a proposal to me! For although I am a puppet, 
possessing perhaps nearly all the faults in the 
world, there is one that I certainly will never 
be guilty of, that of making terms with, and 
sharing in the gains of, dishonest people! ” 

“Well said, my boy!” cried the peasant, 
slapping him on the shoulder. “ Such senti¬ 
ments do you honour: and as a proof of my 
gratitude I will at once set you at liberty, and 
you may return home.” 

And he removed the dog’s collar. 


XXIII 


PINOCCHIO MOURNS THE DEATH OF THE BEAUTI¬ 
FUL CHILD WITH THE BLUE HAIR. HE 
THEN MEETS WITH A PIGEON WHO FLIES 
WITH HIM TO THE SEASHORE, AND THERE 
HE THROWS HIMSELF INTO THE WATER TO 
GO TO THE ASSISTANCE OF HIS FATHER 
GEPPETTO 



S soon as Pinocchio was released from the 


heavy and humiliating weight of the 


dog collar he started off across the 
fields, and never stopped until he had reached 
the high road that led to the Fairy’s house. 
There he turned and looked down into the 
plain beneath. He could see distinctly with 
his naked eye the wood where he had been so 
unfortunate as to meet with the Fox and the 
Cat; he could see amongst the trees the top 
of the Big Oak to which he had been hung; 
but although he looked in every direction the 
little house belonging to the beautiful Child 
with the blue hair was nowhere visible. 

Seized with a sad presentiment he began to 
run with all the strength he had left, and in a 
few minutes he reached the field where the little 
white house had once stood. But the little white 
house was no longer there, He saw instead a 


115 


116 PINOCCHIO 

marble stone, on which were engraved these 
sad words: 

HERE LIES 

THE CHILD WITH THE BLUE HAIR 
WHO DIED FROM SORROW 
BECAUSE SHE WAS ABANDONED BY HER 
LITTLE BROTHER PINOCCHIO. 

I leave you to imagine the puppet’s feelings 
when he had with difficulty spelt out this 
epitaph. He fell with his face on the ground 
and, covering the tombstone with a thousand 
kisses, burst into an agony of tears. He cried 
all night, and when morning came he was still 
crying although he had no tears left, and his 
sobs and lamentations were so acute and heart¬ 
breaking that they roused the echoes in the 
surrounding hills. 

And as he wept he said: 

“ Oh, little Fairy, why did you die? Why 
did not I die instead of you, I who am so wicked, 
whilst you were so good? . . . And my papa? 
Where can he be? Oh, little Fairy, tell me 
where I can find him, for I want to remain with 
him always and never to leave him again, never 
again! . . . Oh, little Fairy, tell me that it is 
not true that you are dead! ... If you really 
love me ... if you really love your little brother, 
come to life again . . . come to life as you were 


PINOCCHIO 


117 


before! . . . Does it not grieve you to see me 
alone and abandoned by everybody? ... If 
assassins come they will hang me again to the 
branch of a tree . . . and then I should die in¬ 
deed. What do you imagine that I can do here 
alone in the world? Now that I have lost you 
and my papa, who will give me food? Where 
shall I go to sleep at night? Who will make me 
a new jacket? Oh, it would be better, a hun¬ 
dred times better, that I should die also! Yes, 
I want to die . . . ih! ih! ih! ” 

And in his despair he tried to tear his hair; 
but his hair, being made of wood, he could not 
even have the satisfaction of sticking his fingers 
into it. 

Just then a large Pigeon flew over his head, 
and stopping with distended wings called down 
to him from a great height: 

44 Tell me, child, what are you doing there? ” 
“ Don’t you see? I am crying! ” said 
Pinocchio, raising his head towards the voice 
and rubbing his eyes with his jacket. 

“ Tell me,” continued the Pigeon, “ amongst 
your companions, do you happen to know a 
puppet who is called Pinocchio? ” 

“ Pinocchio? . . . Did you say Pinocchio? ” 
repeated the puppet, lumping quickly to his 
feet. 44 1 am Pinocchio! ” 

The Pigeon at this answer descended to 


118 


PINOCCHIO 


the ground. He was larger than a turkey. 

“ Do you also know Geppetto? ” he asked. 

44 Do I know him! He is my poor papa! 
Has he perhaps spoken to you of me? Will 
you take me to him? Is he still alive? Answer 
me for pity’s sake: is he still alive? ” 

“ I left him three days ago on the sea¬ 
shore.” 

“ What was he doing? ” 

“ He was building a little boat for himself, 
to cross the ocean. For more than three months 
that poor man has been going all round the 
world looking for you. Not having succeeded 
in finding you he has now taken it into his head 
to go to the distant countries of the new world 
in search of you.” 

“ How far is it from here to the shore? ” 
asked Pinocchio breathlessly. 

44 More than six hundred miles.” 

44 Six hundred miles? Oh, beautiful Pigeon, 
what a fine thing it would be to have your 
wings! . . 

44 If you wish to go, I will carry you there.” 

44 How? ” 

44 Astride on my back. Do you weigh 
much? ” 

44 1 weigh next to nothing. I am as light 
as a feather.” 

And without waiting for more Pinocchio 


■Mi 



MM 






“gallop. 


GALLOP, MY LITTLE HORSE 


























PINOCCHIO 


119 


jumped at once on the Pigeon’s back, and put¬ 
ting a leg on each side of him as men do on 
horseback, he exclaimed joyfully: 

“ Gallop, gallop, my little horse, for I am 
anxious to arrive quickly! . . 

The Pigeon took flight, and in a few 
minutes had soared so high that they almost 
touched the clouds. Finding himself at such 
an immense height the puppet had the curiosity 
to turn and look down; but his head spun round, 
arid he became so frightened, that to save him¬ 
self from the danger of falling he wound his 
arms tightly round the neck of his feathered 
steed. 

They flew all day. Towards evening the 
Pigeon said: 

“ I am very thirsty! ” 

“And I am very hungry!” rejoined 
Pinocchio. 

“ Let us stop at that dovecot for a few 
minutes; and then we will continue our journey 
that we may reach the seashore by dawn to¬ 
morrow.” 

They went into a deserted dovecot, where 
they found nothing but a basin full of water 
and a basket full of vetch. 

The puppet had never in his life been able 
to eat vetch: according to him it made him sick 
.and revolted him. That evening, however, he 


120 


PINOCCHIO 


ate to repletion, and when he had nearly 
emptied the basket he turned to the Pigeon and 
said to him: 

“ I never could have believed that vetch was 
so good! ” 

“ Be assured, my boy,” replied the Pigeon, 
“ that when hunger is real, and there is nothing 
else to eat, even vetch becomes delicious. 
Hunger knows neither caprice nor greediness.” 

Having quickly finished their little meal 
they recommenced their journey and flew 
away. The following morning they reached 
the seashore. 

The Pigeon placed Pinocchio on the ground, 
and not wishing to be troubled with thanks for 
having done a good action, flew quickly away 
and disappeared. 

The shore was crowded with people who 
were looking out to sea, shouting and gesticu¬ 
lating. 

“What has happened?” asked Pinocchio 
of an old woman. 

“ A poor father who has lost his son has 
gone away in a boat to search for him on the 
other side of the water, and to-day the sea is 
tempestuous and the little boat is in danger 
of sinking.” 

“ Where is the little boat? ” 

“ It is out there in a line with my finger,” 


PINOCCHIO 


121 


said the old woman, pointing to a little boat 
which, seen at that distance, looked like a nut¬ 
shell with a very little man in it. 

Pinocchio fixed his eyes on it, and after 
looking attentively he gave a piercing scream, 
crying: 

“ It is my papa! it is my papa! ” 

The boat meanwhile, beaten by the fury of 
the waves, at one moment disappeared in the 
trough of the sea, and the next came again to 
the surface. Pinocchio, standing on the top of 
a high rock, kept calling to his father by name, 
and making every kind of signal to him with his 
hands, his handkerchief, and his cap. 

And although he was so far off, Geppetto 
appeared to recognise his son, for he also took 
off his cap and waved it, and tried by gestures 
to make him understand that he would have 
returned if it had been possible, but that the 
sea was so tempestuous that he could not use 
his oars or approach the shore. 

Suddenly a tremendous wave rose and the 
boat disappeared. They waited, hoping it 
would come again to the surface, but it was 
seen no more. 

“ Poor man! ” said the fishermen who were 
assembled on the shore, and murmuring a 
prayer they turned to go home. 

Just then they heard a desperate cry, and 


m 


PINOCCHIO 


looking back they saw a little boy who ex¬ 
claimed, as he jumped from a rock into the sea: 

“ I will save my papa! ” 

Pinocchio, being made of wood, floated 
easily and he swam like a fish. At one moment 
they saw him disappear under the water, car¬ 
ried down by the fury of the waves; and next 
he reappeared struggling with a leg or an arm. 
At last they lost sight of him, and he was seen 
no more. 

“ Poor boy! ” said the fishermen who were 
collected on the shore, and murmuring a prayer 
they returned home. 


XXIV 


PINOCCHIO ARRIVES AT THE ISLAND OF THE 
“ INDUSTRIOUS BEES,” AND FINDS THE FAIRY 
AGAIN 

P INOCCHIO, hoping to be in time to 
help his father, swam the whole night. 
And what a horrible night it was! The 
rain came down in torrents, it hailed, the 
thunder was frightful, and the flashes of light¬ 
ning made it as light as day. 

Towards morning he saw a long strip of 
land not far off. It was an island in the midst 
of the sea. 

He tried his utmost to reach the shore: but 
it was all in vain. The waves, racing and 
tumbling over each other, knocked him about 
as if he had been a stick or a wisp of straw. At 
last, fortunately for him, a billow rolled up with 
such fury and impetuosity that he was lifted 
up and thrown violently far on to the sands. 

He fell with such force that, as he struck the 
ground, his ribs and all his joints cracked, but 
he comforted himself, saying: 

“ This time also I have made a wonderful 
escape! ” 

Little by little the sky cleared, the sun shone 
out in all his splendour, and the sea became as 
quiet and smooth as oil. 


123 


124 


PINOCCHIO 


The puppet put his clothes in the sun to dry, 
and began to look in every direction in hopes of 
seeing on the vast expanse of water a little 
boat with a little man in it. But although he 
looked and looked, he could see nothing but the 
sky, and the sea, and the sail of some ship, but 
so far away that it seemed no bigger than a fly. 

“ If I only knew what this island was 
called! ” he said to himself. “ If I only knew 
whether it was inhabited by civilised people— 
I mean by people who have not got the bad 
habit of hanging boys to the branches of the 
trees. But who can I ask? who, if there is 
nobody? . . 

This idea of finding himself alone, alone, all 
alone, in the midst of this great uninhabited 
country, made him so melancholy that he was 
just beginning to cry. But at that moment, at 
a short distance from the shore, he saw a big 
fish swimming by; it was going quietly on its 
own business with its head out of the water. 

Not knowing its name the puppet called to 
it in a loud voice to make himself heard: 

“ Eh, Sir fish, will you permit me a word 
with you? ” 

“ Two if you like,” answered the fish, who 
was a Dolphin, and so polite that few similar 
are to be found in any sea in the world. 

“ Will you be kind enough to tell me if there 


PINOCCHIO 


125 

are villages in this island where it would be 
possible to obtain something to eat, without 
running the danger of being eaten? ” 

“ Certainly there are,” replied the Dolphin. 
“ Indeed you will find one at a short distance 
from here.” 

“ And what road must I take to go there? ” 
“ You must take that path to your left and 
follow your nose. You cannot make a mistake.” 

“ Will you tell me another thing? You who 
swim about the sea all day and all night, have 
you by chance met a little boat with my papa 
in it? ” 

“And who is your papa? ” 

“ He is the best papa in the world, whilst it 

would be difficult to find a worse son than I 
99 

am. 

“ During the terrible storm last night,” an¬ 
swered the Dolphin, “ the little boat must have 
gone to the bottom.” 

“ And my papa? ” 

“ He must have been swallowed by the ter¬ 
rible Dog-fish who for some days past has been 
spreading devastation and ruin in our waters.” 

“ Is this Dog-fish very big? ” asked Pinoc- 
chio, who was already beginning to quake with 
fear. 

“ Big! . . replied the Dolphin. “ That 
you may form some idea of his size, I need only 


126 


PINOCCHIO 


tell you that he is bigger than a five-storied 
house, and that his mouth is so enormous and 
so deep that a railway train with its smoking 
engine could pass very easily down his great 
throat.” 

“ Mercy upon us! ” exclaimed the terrified 
puppet; and putting on his clothes with the 
greatest haste he said to the Dolphin: 

“ Good-bye, Sir fish: excuse the trouble I 
have given you, and many thanks for your 
politeness.” 

He then took the path that had been pointed 
out to him and began to walk fast—so fast, 
indeed, that he was almost running. And at 
the slightest noise he turned to look behind 
him, fearing that he might see the terrible Dog¬ 
fish with a railway train in its mouth following 
him. 

After a walk of half an hour he reached a 
little village called “ The village of the Indus¬ 
trious Bees.” The road was alive with people 
running here and there to attend to their busi¬ 
ness : all were at work, all had something to do. 
You could not have found an idler or a vaga¬ 
bond, not even if you had searched for him with 
a lighted lamp. 

“Ah!” said that lazy Pinocchio at once, 
“I see that this village will never suit me! I 
wasn’t born to work! ” 


PINOCCHIO 


127 

In the meanwhile he was tormented by 
hunger, for he had eaten nothing for twenty- 
four hours—not even vetch. What was he 
to do? 

There were only two ways by which he 
could obtain food—either by asking for a little 
work, or by begging for a halfpenny or for a 
mouthful of bread. 

He was ashamed to beg, for his father had 
always preached to him that no one had a right 
to beg except the aged and the infirm. The 
really poor in this world, deserving of com¬ 
passion and assistance, are only those who from 
age or sickness are no longer able to earn their 
own bread with the labour of their hands. It 
is the duty of every one else to work; and if 
they will not work, so much the worse for them 
if they suffer from hunger. 

At that moment a man came down the road, 
tired and panting for breath. He was drag¬ 
ging alone, with fatigue and difficulty, two 
carts full of charcoal. 

Pinocchio, judging by his face that he was 
a kind man, approached him, and casting down 
his eyes with shame he said in a low voice: 

“ Would you have the charity to give me a 
halfpenny, for I am dying of hunger? ” 

“ You shall have not only a halfpenny,” 


128 


PINOCCHIO 


said the man, “ but I will give you twopence, 
provided that you help me to drag home these 
two carts of charcoal.” 

“ I am surprised at you! ” answered the 
puppet in a tone of off ence. “ Let me tell you 
that I am not accustomed to do the work of a 
donkey: I have never drawn a cart! . . .” 

“ So much the better for you,” answered the 
man. “ Then, my boy, if you are really dying 
of hunger, eat two fine slices of your pride, and 
be careful not to get an indigestion.” 

A few minutes afterwards a mason passed 
down the road carrying on his shoulders a 
basket of lime. 

“ Would you have the charity, good man, 
to give a halfpenny to a poor boy who is yawn¬ 
ing for want of food? ” 

“ Willingly,” answered the man. “ Come 
with me and carry the lime, and instead of a 
halfpenny I will give you five.” 

“ But the lime is heavy,” objected Pinoc- 
chio, “ and I don’t want to tire myself.” 

“If you don’t want to tire yourself, then, 
my boy, amuse yourself with yawning, and 
much good may it do you.” 

In less than half an hour twenty other 
people went by; and Pinocchio asked charity 
of them all, but they all answered: 


PINOCCHIO 


129 


“ Are you not ashamed to beg? Instead 
of idling about the roads, go and look for a 
little work and learn to earn your bread.” 

At last a nice little woman carrying two 
cans of water came by. 

“Will you let me drink a little water out 
of your can? ” asked Pinocchio, who was burn¬ 
ing with thirst. 

“ Drink, my boy, if you wish it! ” said the 
little woman, setting down the two cans. 

Pinocchio drank like a fish, and as he dried 
his mouth he mumbled: 

“ I have quenched my thirst. If I could only 
appease my hunger!. . .” 

The good woman hearing these words said: 

“ If you will help me to carry home these 
two cans of water, I will give you a fine piece 
of bread.” 

Pinocchio looked at the can and answered 
neither yes nor no. 

“ And besides the bread you shall have a 
nice dish of cauliflower dressed with oil and 
vinegar,” added the good woman. 

Pinocchio gave another look at the can, 
and answered neither yes nor no. 

“ And after the cauliflower I will give you 
a beautiful bonbon full of syrup.” 

The temptation of this last dainty was so 


9 


130 


PINOCCHIO 


great that Pinocchio could resist no longer, and 
with an air of decision he said: 

“ I must have patience! I will carry the 
can to your house.” 

The can was heavy, and the puppet not 
being strong enough to carry it in his hand, 
had to resign himself to carry it on his head. 

When they reached the house the good little 
woman made Pinocchio sit down at a small 
table already laid, and she placed before him 
the bread, the cauliflower, and the bonbon. 

Pinocchio did not eat, he devoured. His 
stomach was like an apartment that had been 
left empty and uninhabited for five months. 

When his ravenous hunger was somewhat 
appeased he raised his head to thank his bene¬ 
factress; but he had no sooner looked at her 
than he gave a prolonged Oh-h-h! of astonish¬ 
ment, and continued staring at her, with wide 
open eyes, his fork in the air, and his mouth 
full of bread and cauliflower, as if he had been 
bewitched. 

“ What has surprised you so much? ” asked 
the good woman, laughing. 

“ It is . . .” answered the puppet, “it is . . . 
it is ... that you are like ... that you remind me 
. . . yes, yes, yes, the same voice . . . the same 
eyes . . . the same hair . . . yes, yes, yes . . . 


PINOCCHIO 


131 


you also have blue hair ... as she had . . . Oh, 
little Fairy!... tell me that it is you, really you! 
. . . Do not make me cry any more! If you 
knew ... I have cried so much, I have suffered 
so much. . . .” 

And throwing himself at her feet on the 
floor, Pinocchio embraced the knees of the 
mysterious little woman and began to cry 
bitterly. 


XXV 


PmOCCHIO PROMISES THE FAIRY TO BE GOOD AND 
STUDIOUS, FOR HE IS QUITE SICK OF BEING A 
PUPPET AND WISHES TO BECOME AN EXEM¬ 
PLARY BOY 

first the good little woman maintained 



that she was not the little Fairy with 


blue hair; but seeing that she was 
found out, and not wishing to continue the 
comedy any longer, she ended by making her¬ 
self known, and she said to Pinocchio: 

“You little rogue! how did you ever dis¬ 
cover who I was? ” 

“ It was my great affection for you that 
told me.” 

“ Do you remember? You left me a child, 
and now that you have found me again I am 
a woman—a woman almost old enough to be 
your mamma.” 

“ I am delighted at that, for now, instead 
of calling you little sister, I will call you 
mamma. I have wished for such a long time to 
have a mamma like other boys! ... But how 
did you manage to grow so fast? ” 

“ That is a secret.” 

“ Teach it to me, for I should also like to 
grow. Don’t you see? I always remain no 
bigger than a ninepin.” 


PINOCCHIO 


133 


“ But you cannot grow,” replied the Fairy. 

“ Why? ” 

“ Because puppets never grow. They are 
born puppets, live puppets, and die puppets.” 

“ Oh, I am sick of being a puppet! ” cried 
Pinocchio, giving himself a slap. “ It is time 
that I became a man. . . 

“ And you will become one, if you know 
how to deserve it. ...” 

“ Not really ? What can I do to deserve it ? ” 

“A very easy thing: by learning to be a 
good boy.” 

“ And you think I am not? ” 

“You are quite the contrary. Good boys 
are obedient, and you. . . .” 

“ And I never obey.” 

“ Good boys like to learn and to work, and 
you....” 

rt And I instead lead an idle vagabond life 
the year through.” 

“ Good boys always speak the truth. . . 

“ And I always tell lies.” 

“ Good boys go willingly to school....” 

“ And school gives me pain all over my 
body. But from to-day I will change my life.” 

“ Do you promise me? ” 

“ I promise you. I will become a good little 
boy, and I will be the consolation of my papa. 


134 


PINOCCHIO 


.... Where is my poor papa at this moment? ” 

“ I do not know.” 

“ Shall I ever have the happiness of seeing 
him again and kissing him? ” 

“ I think so; indeed I am sure of it.” 

At this answer Pinocchio was so delighted 
that he took the Fairy’s hands and began to 
kiss them with such fervour that he seemed 
beside himself. Then raising his face and look¬ 
ing at her lovingly, he asked: 

“ Tell me, little mamma: then it was not 
true that you were dead? ” 

“ It seems not,” said the Fairy, smiling. 

“ If you only knew the sorrow I felt and 
the tightening of my throat when I read, ‘ here 
lies. 

“ I know it, and it is on that account that 
I have forgiven you. I saw from the sincerity 
of your grief that you had a good heart; and 
when boys have good hearts, even if they are 
scamps and have got bad habits, there is always 
something to hope for: that is, there is always 
hope that they will turn to better ways. That 
is why I came to look for you here. I will be 
your mamma. . . .” 

“ Oh, how delightful! ” shouted Pinocchio, 
jumping for joy. 

“ You must obey me and do everything 
that I bid you.” 


PINOCCHIO 


135 


“ Willingly, willingly, willingly! ” 

“ To-morrow,” rejoined the Fairy, “ you 
will begin to go to school.” 

Pinocchio became at once a little less joyful. 

“ Then you must choose an art, or a trade, 
according to your own wishes.” 

Pinocchio became very grave. 

“ What are you muttering between your 
teeth? ” asked the Fairy in an angry voice. 

“ I was saying,” moaned the puppet in a 
low voice, “ that it seemed to me too late for 
me to go to school now. . . .” 

“No, sir. Keep it in mind that it is never 
too late to learn and to instruct ourselves.” 

“ But I do not wish to follow either an art 
or a trade.” 

“ Why? ” 

“ Because it tires me to work.” 

“ My boy,” said the Fairy, “ those who talk 
in that way end almost always either in prison 
or in the hospital. Let me tell you that every 
man, whether he is born rich or poor, is obliged 
to do something in this world—to occupy him¬ 
self, to work. Woe to those who lead slothful 
lives. Sloth is a dreadful illness and must be 
cured at once, in childhood. If not, when we 
are old it can never be cured.” 

Pinocchio was touched by these words, and 
lifting his head quickly he said to the Fairy: 


136 


PINOCCHIO 


“ I will study, I will work, I will do all that 
you tell me, for indeed I have become weary 
of being a puppet, and I wish at any price to 
become a boy. You promised me that I should, 
did you not? ” 

46 1 did promise you, and it now depends 
upon yourself.” 


XXVI 


PINOCCHIO ACCOMPANIES HIS SCHOOLFELLOWS 
TO THE SEASHORE TO SEE THE TERRIBLE DOG¬ 
FISH 



IHE following day Pinocchio went to 
the government school. 


Imagine the delight of all the little 
rogues when they saw a puppet walk into their 
school! They set up a roar of laughter that 
never ended. They played him all sorts of 
tricks. One boy carried off his cap, another 
pulled his jacket behind; one tried to give him 
a pair of inky mustachios just under his nose, 
and another attempted to tie strings to his feet 
and hands to make him dance. 

For a short time Pinocchio pretended not 
to care and got on as well as he could; but at 
last, losing all patience, he turned to those who 
were teasing him most and making game of 
him, and said to them, looking very angry: 

“ Beware, boys: I am not come here to be 
your buffoon. I respect others, and I intend 
to be respected.” 

“ Well said, boaster! You have spoken like 
a book! ” howled the young rascals, convulsed 
with mad laughter; and one of them, more im¬ 
pertinent than the others, stretched out his 


138 PINOCCHIO 

hand intending to seize the puppet by the end 
of his nose. 

But he was not in time, for Pinocchio stuck 
his leg out from under the table and gave him 
a great kick on his shins. 

“Oh, what hard feet!” roared the boy, 
rubbing the bruise that the puppet had given 
him. 

“ And what elbows! . . . even harder than 
his feet! . . .” said another, who for his rude 
tricks had received a blow in the stomach. 

But nevertheless the kick and the blow 
acquired at once for Pinocchio the sympathy 
and the esteem of all the boys in the school. 
They all made friends with him and liked him 
heartily. 

And even the master praised him, for he 
found him attentive, studious, and intelligent— 
always the first to come to school, and the last 
to leave when school was over. 

But he had one fault: he made too many 
friends; and amongst them were several young 
rascals well known for their dislike to study and 
love of mischief. 

The master warned him every day, and even 
the good Fairy never failed to tell him, and to 
repeat constantly: 

“ Take care, Pinocchio! Those bad school¬ 
fellows of yours will end sooner or later by 


PINOCCHIO 


139 


making you lose all love of study, and perhaps 
even they may bring upon you some great mis¬ 
fortune.” 

“ There is no fear of that! ” answered the 
puppet, shrugging his shoulders and touching 
his forehead as much as to say: “ There is so 
much sense here! ” 

Now it happened that one fine day, as he 
was on his way to school, he met several of 
his usual companions who, coming up to him, 
asked: 

“ Have you heard the great news? ” 

“ No.” 

“ In the sea near here a Dog-fish has ap¬ 
peared as big as a mountain.” 

“ Not really? Can it be the same Dog-fish 
that was there when my poor papa was 
drowned ? ” 

“We are going to the shore to see him. 
Will you come with us? ” 

“ No; I am going to school.” 

“ What matters school? We can go to 
school to-morrow. Whether we have a lesson 
more or a lesson less, we shall always remain 
the same donkeys.” 

“ But what will the master say? ” 

“ The master may say what he likes. He 
is paid on purpose to grumble all day.” 

“ And my mamma?. . 


140 


PINOCCHIO 


“ Mammas know nothing,” answered those 
bad little boys. 

“ Do you know what I will do? ” said Pinoc- 
chio. “ I have reasons for wishing to see the 
Dog-fish, but I will go and see him when school 
is over.” 

“Poor donkey!” exclaimed one of the 
number. “ Do you suppose that a fish of that 
size will wait your convenience? As soon as he 
is tired of being here he will start for another 
place, and then it will be too late.” 

“ How long does it take from here to the 
shore? ” asked the puppet. 

“We can be there and back in an hour.” 

“Then away!” shouted Pinocchio, “and 
he who runs fastest is the best! ” 

Having thus given the signal to start, the 
boys, with their books and copy-books under 
their arms, rushed off across the field, and 
Pinocchio was always the first—he seemed to 
have wings to his feet. 

From time to time he turned to jeer at his 
companions, who were some distance behind, 
and seeing them panting for breath, covered 
with dust and their tongues hanging out of 
their mouths, he laughed heartily. The unfor¬ 
tunate boy little knew what terrors and horrible 
disasters he was going to meet with! . . . 


XXVII 

GREAT FIGHT BETWEEN PINOCCHIO AND HIS 
COMPANIONS. ONE OF THEM IS WOUNDED, 
AND PINOCCHIO IS ARRESTED BY THE 
GENDARMES 

W HEN he arrived on the shore Pinoc- 
chio looked out to sea; but he saw no 
Dog-fish. The sea was as smooth as 
a great crystal mirror. 

“ Where is the Dog-fish? ” he asked, turn¬ 
ing to his companions. 

“ He must have gone to have his breakfast,” 
said one of them, laughing. 

“Or he has thrown himself on to his bed 
to have a little nap,” added another, laughing 
still louder. 

From their absurd answers and silly 
laughter Pinocchio perceived that his com¬ 
panions had been making a fool of him, in 
inducing him to believe a tale with no truth 
in it. Taking it very badly, he said to them 
angrily: 

“ And now may I ask what fun you could 
find in deceiving me with the story of the Dog¬ 
fish? ” 

“ Oh, it was great fun! ” answered the little 
rascals in chorus. 

“ And in what did it consist? ” 


141 


142 


PINOCCHIO 


“ In making you miss school, and persuad¬ 
ing you to come with us. Are you not ashamed 
of being always so punctual and so diligent 
with your lessons? Are you not ashamed of 
studying so hard? ” 

“ And if I study hard what concern is it of 
yours? ” 

“ It concerns us excessively, because it 
makes us appear in a bad light to the master.” 

“ Why? ” 

“ Because boys who study make those who, 
like us, have no wish to learn seem worse by 
comparison. And that is too bad. We too 
have our pride! . . .” 

“ Then what must I do to please you? ” 

“ You must follow our example and hate 
school, lessons, and the master—our three 
greatest enemies.” 

“ And if I wish to continue my studies? ” 

“ In that case we will have nothing more to 
do with you, and at the first opportunity we 
will make you pay for it.” 

“ Really,” said the puppet, shaking his 
head, “ you make me inclined to laugh.” 

“ Eh, Pinocchio! ” shouted the biggest of 
the boys, confronting him. “ None of your 
superior airs: don’t come here to crow over us! 
. . . for if you are not afraid of us, we are not 


PINOCCHIO 


143 


afraid of you. Remember that you are one 
against seven of us.” 

44 Seven, like the seven deadly sins,” said 
Pinocchio with a shout of laughter. 

“Listen to him! He has insulted us all! 
He called us the seven deadly sins!. . .” 

“ Pinocchio! beg pardon ... or it will be 
the worse for you! . . .” 

44 Cuckoo! ” sang the puppet, putting his 
forefinger to the end of his nose scoffingly. 

44 Pinocchio! it will end badly! . . .” 

“ Cuckoo!” 

“You will get as many blows as a don¬ 
key! . . .” 

“ Cuckoo! ” 

44 You will return home with a broken 
nose! . . .” 

44 Cuckoo! ” 

44 Ah, you shall have the cuckoo from me! ” 
said the most courageous of the boys. 44 Take 
that to begin with, and keep it for your supper 
to-night.” 

And so saying he gave him a blow on the 
head with his fist. 

But it was give and take; for the puppet, 
as was to be expected, immediately returned 
the blow, and the fight in a moment became 
general and desperate. 

Pinocchio, although he was one alone, de- 


144 


PINOCCHIO 


fended himself like a hero. He used his feet, 
which were of the hardest wood, to such pur¬ 
pose that he kept his enemies at a respectful 
distance. Wherever they touched they left a 
bruise by way of reminder. 

The boys, becoming furious at not being 
able to measure themselves hand to hand with 
the puppet, had recourse to other weapons. 
Loosening their satchels they commenced 
throwing their school-books at him—grammars, 
dictionaries, spelling-books, geography books, 
and other scholastic works. But Pinocchio was 
quick and had sharp eyes, and always managed 
to duck in time, so that the books passed over 
his head and all fell into the sea. 

Imagine the astonishment of the fish! 
Thinking that the books were something to 
eat they all arrived in shoals, but having tasted 
a page or two, or a frontispiece, they spat it 
quickly out and made a wry face that seemed 
to say: “ It isn’t food for us; we are accustomed 
to something much better! ” 

The battle meantime had become fiercer 
than ever, when a big crab, who had come out 
of the water and had climbed slowly up on 
to the shore, called out in a hoarse voice that 
sounded like a trumpet with a bad cold: 

“ Have done with that, you young ruffians, 


PINOCCHIO 


145 


for you are nothing else! These hand-to-hand 
fights between boys seldom finish well. Some 
disaster is sure to happen! . . .” 

Poor crab! He might as well have preached 
to the wind. Even that young rascal Pinoc¬ 
chio, turning round, looked at him mockingly 
and said rudely: 

“Hold your tongue, you tiresome crab! 
You had better suck some liquorice lozenges 
to cure that cold in your throat. Or better 
still, go to bed and try to get a reaction! ” 

Just then the boys, who had no more books 
of their own to throw, spied at a little distance 
the satchel that belonged to Pinocchio, and 
took possession of it in less time than it takes 
to tell. 

Amongst the books there was one bound in 
strong cardboard with the back and points of 
parchment. It was a Treatise on Arithmetic. 
I leave you to imagine if it was big or not! 

One of the boys seized this volume, and 
aiming at Pinocchio’s head threw it at him 
with all the force he could muster. But in¬ 
stead of hitting the puppet it struck one of 
his companions on the temple, who, turning 
as white as a sheet, said only: 

“ Oh, mother, help ... I am dying! . . .” 
and fell his whole length on the sand. Think- 
10 


146 


PINOCCHIO 


ing he was dead the terrified boys ran off as 
hard as their legs could carry them, and in a 
few minutes they were out of sight. 

But Pinocchio remained. Although from 
grief and fright he was more dead than alive, 
nevertheless he ran and soaked his handkerchief 
in the sea and began to bathe the temples of 
his poor schoolfellow. Crying bitterly in his 
despair he kept calling him by name and say¬ 
ing to him: 

“ Eugene! . . . my poor Eugene! . . . open 
your eyes and look at me! . . . why do you not 
answer? I did not do it, indeed it was not 
I that hurt you so! believe me, it was not! 
Open your eyes, Eugene. ... If you keep 
your eyes shut I shall die too. . . . Oh! what 
shall I do? how shall I ever return home? How 
can I ever have the courage to go back to my 
good mamma? What will become of me? . . . 
Where can I fly to?. . .Oh! how much better it 
would have been, a thousand times better, if 
I had only gone to school!. . . Why did I listen 
to my companions? they have been my ruin. 
The master said to me, and my mamma re¬ 
peated it often: ‘ Beware of bad companions! ’ 
But I am obstinate ... a wilful fool. ... I let 
them talk and then I always take my own way! 
and I have to suffer for it. . . . And so, ever 


PINOCCHIO 


147 


since I have been in the world, I have never 
had a happy quarter of an hour. Oh dear! 
what will become of me, what will become of 
me, what will become of me?. . 

And Pinocchio began to cry and sob, and 
to strike his head with his fists, and to call poor 
Eugene by his name. Suddenly he heard the 
sound of approaching footsteps. 

He turned and saw two carabineers. 

“ What are you doing there lying on the 
ground?” they asked Pinocchio. 

“ I am helping my schoolfellow.” 

“ Has he been hurt? ” 

“ So it seems.” 

“ Hurt indeed! ” said one of the carabineers, 
stooping down and examining Eugene closely. 
“ This boy has been wounded in the temple. 
Who wounded him? ” 

“ Not I,” stammered the puppet breath¬ 
lessly. 

“ If it was not you, who then did it? ” 

“ Not I,” repeated Pinocchio. 

“ And with what was he wounded? ” 

“ With this book.” And the puppet picked 
up from the ground the Treatise on Arithmetic, 
bound in cardboard and parchment, and showed 
it to the carabineer. 

“ And to whom does this book belong? ” 

“ To me.” 


148 


PINOCCHIO 


“ That is enough: nothing more is wanted. 
Get up and come with us at once.” 

“ But I . . .” 

“ Come along with us! . . 

“ But I am innocent. . . 

“ Come along with us! ” 

Before they left, the carabineers called 
some fishermen, who were passing at that mo¬ 
ment near the shore in their boat, and said to 
them: 

“We give this boy who has been wounded 
in the head into your charge. Carry him to 
your house and nurse him. To-morrow we 
will come and see him.” 

They then turned to Pinocchio, and having 
placed him between them they said to him in 
a commanding voice: 

“ Forward! and walk quickly! or it will be 
the worse for you.” 

Without requiring it to be repeated, the 
puppet set out along the road leading to the 
village. But the poor little devil hardly knew 
where he was. He thought he must be dream¬ 
ing, and what a dreadful dream! He was 
beside himself. He saw double: his legs shook: 
his tongue clung to the roof of his mouth, and 
he could not utter a word. And yet in the 
midst of his stupefaction and apathy his heart 
was pierced by a cruel thorn—the thought that 


PINOCCHIO 


149 


he would have to pass under the windows of the 
good Fairy’s house between the carabineers. 
He would rather have died. 

They had already reached the village when 
a gust of wind blew Pinocchio’s cap off his 
head and carried it ten yards off. 

“Will you permit me,” said the puppet 
to the carabineers, “to go and get my cap? ” 

“ Go, then; but be quick about it.” 

The puppet went and picked up his cap ... 
but instead of putting it on his head he took 
it between his teeth and began to run as hard 
as he could towards the seashore. 

The carabineers, thinking it would be diffi¬ 
cult to overtake him, sent after him a large 
mastiff who had won the first prizes at all the 
dog-races. Pinocchio ran, but the dog ran 
faster. The people came to their windows and 
crowded into the street in their anxiety to see 
the end of the desperate race. But they could 
not satisfy their curiosity, for Pinocchio and 
the dog raised such clouds of dust that in a 
few minutes nothing could be seen of either of 
them. 


xxvnr 


PINOCCHIO IS IN DANGER OF BEING FRIED IN A 
FRYING-PAN LIKE A FISH 



HERE came a moment in this desper¬ 


ate race—a terrible moment when Pin- 


occhio thought himself lost: for you 
must know that Alidoro—for so the mastiff 
was called—had run so swiftly that he had 
nearly come up with him. 

The puppet could hear the panting of the 
dreadful beast close behind him; there was 
not a hand’s breadth between them; he could 
even feel the dog’s hot breath. 

Fortunately the shore was close and the sea 
but a few steps off. 

As soon as he reached the sands the puppet 
made a wonderful leap—a frog could have done 
no better—and plunged into the water. 

Alidoro, on the contrary, wished to stop 
himself; but carried away by the impetus of 
the race he also went into the sea. The unfor¬ 
tunate dog could not swim, but he made great 
efforts to keep himself afloat with his paws; 
but the more he struggled the farther he sank 
head downwards under the water. 

When he rose to the surface again his eyes 
were rolling with terror, and he barked out: 

“ I am drowning! I am drowning! ” 


150 


PINOCCHIO 151 

“ Drown! ” shouted Pinocchio from a dis¬ 
tance, seeing himself safe from all danger. 

“Help me, dear Pinocchio! . . . save me 
from death!.. 

At that agonising cry the puppet, who had 
in reality an excellent heart, was moved with 
compassion, and turning to the dog he said: 

“ But if I save your life, will you promise 
to give me no further annoyance, and not to 
run after me? ” 

“I promise! I promise! Be quick, for 
pity’s sake, for if you delay another half- 
minute I shall be dead.” 

Pinocchio hesitated: but remembering that 
his father had often told him that a good action 
is never lost, he swam to Alidoro, and taking 
hold of his tail with both hands brought him 
safe and sound on to the dry sand of the beach. 

The poor dog could not stand. He had 
drunk, against his will, so much salt water that 
he was like a balloon. The puppet, however, 
not wishing to trust him too far, thought it 
more prudent to jump again into the water. 
When he had swum some distance from the 
shore he called out to the friend he had rescued: 

“Good-bye, Alidoro; a good journey to 
you, and take my compliments to all at home.” 

“ Good-bye, Pinocchio,” answered the dog; 
“ a thousand thanks for having saved my life. 


152 


PINOCCHIO 


You have done me a great service, and in this 
world what is given is returned. If an occa¬ 
sion offers I shall not forget it.” 

Pinocchio swam on, keeping always near 
the land. At last he thought that he had 
reached a safe place. Giving a look along the 
shore he saw amongst the rocks a kind of cave 
from which a cloud of smoke was ascending. 

“ In that cave,” he said to himself, “ there 
must be a fire. So much the better. I will go 
and dry and warm myself, and then? . . . and 
then we shall see.” 

Having taken this resolution he approached 
the rocks; but as he was going to climb up, he 
felt something under the water that rose higher 
and higher and carried him into the air. He 
tried to escape, but it was too late, for to his 
extreme surprise he found himself enclosed in 
a great net, together with a swarm of fish of 
every size and shape, who were flapping and 
struggling like so many despairing souls. 

At the same moment a fisherman came out 
of the cave; he was so ugly, so horribly ugly, 
that he looked like a sea monster. Instead of 
hair his head was covered with a thick bush 
of green grass, his skin was green, his eyes 
were green, his long beard that came down 
to the ground was also green. He had the 


PINOCCHIO 153 

appearance of an immense lizard standing on 
its hind-paws. 

When the fisherman had drawn his net out 
of the sea, he exclaimed with great satisfaction: 

“Thank Heaven! Again to-day I shall 
have a splendid feast of fish! 

“ What a mercy that I am not a fish! ” said 
Pinocchio to himself, regaining a little courage. 

The net full of fish was carried into the 
cave, which was dark and smoky. In the middle 
of the cave a large frying-pan full of oil was 
frying, and sending out a smell of mushrooms 
that was suffocating. 

“ Now we will see what fish we have taken! ” 
said the green fisherman; and putting into the 
net an enormous hand, so out of all proportion 
that it looked like a baker’s shovel, he pulled 
out a handful of mullet. 

“ These mullet are good! ” he said, looking 
at them and smelling them complacently. And 
he then threw them into a pan without water. 

He repeated the same operation many 
times; and as he drew out the fish, his mouth 
watered and he said, chuckling to himself: 

“ What good whiting! . . .” 

“ What exquisite sardines! . . 

“ These soles are delicious! . . 

“ And these crabs excellent!.. 

“ What dear little anchovies!.. .” 


154 


PINOCCHIO 


I need not tell you that the whiting, the 
sardines, the soles, the crabs, and the anchovies 
were all thrown promiscuously into the pan 
to keep company with the mullet. 

The last to remain in the net was Pinocchio. 

No sooner had the fisherman taken him 
out than he opened his big green eyes with 
astonishment, and cried, half-frightened: 

“ What species of fish is this? Fish of this 
kind I never remember to have eaten! ” 

And he looked at him again and having 
examined him well, he ended by saying: 

“ I know: he must be a craw-fish.’’ 

Pinocchio, mortified at being mistaken for 
a craw-fish, said in an angry voice: 

“ A craw-fish indeed! do you take me for 
a craw-fish? I tell you that I am a puppet.” 

“ A puppet? ” replied the fisherman. “ To 
tell the truth, a puppet is quite a new fish for 
me. I shall eat you with greater pleasure.” 

“ Eat me! but will you understand that I 
am not a fish? Do you hear that I talk and 
reason as you do? ” 

“ That is quite true,” said the fisherman; 
“ and as I see that you are a fish possessed of 
the talent of talking and reasoning, I will treat 
you with all the attention that is your due.” 

“ And this attention?. . .” 

“ In token of my friendship and particular 



























PINOCCHIO 


155 


regard, I will leave you the choice of how you 
would like to be cooked. Would you like to 
be fried in the frying-pan, or would you prefer 
to be stewed with tomato sauce? ” 

“ To tell the truth,” answered Pinocchio, 
if I am to choose, I should prefer to be set 
at liberty and to return home.” 

“You are joking! Do you imagine that 
I would lose the opportunity of tasting such a 
rare fish? It is not every day, I assure you, 
that a puppet fish is caught in these waters. 
Leave it to me. I will fry you with the other 
fish, and you will be quite satisfied. It is 
always consolation to be fried in company.” 

At this speech the unhappy Pinocchio be¬ 
gan to cry and scream and to implore for 
mercy; and he said, sobbing: “ How much bet¬ 
ter it would have been if I had gone to school! 
... I would listen to my companions and now 
I am paying for it! Ih!... Ih!... Ih!...” 

And he wriggled like an eel, and made in¬ 
describable efforts to slip out of the clutches 
of the green fisherman. But it was useless: 
the fisherman took a long strip of rush, and 
having bound his hands and feet as if he had 
been a sausage, he threw him into the pan with 
the other fish. 

He then fetched a wooden bowl full of flour 
and began to flour them each in turn, and as 


156 PINOCCHIO 

soon as they were ready he threw them into 
the frying-pan. 

The first to dance in the boiling oil were 
the poor whiting; the crabs followed, then the 
sardines, then the soles, then the anchovies, and 
at last it was Pinocchio’s turn. Seeing himself 
so near death, and such a horrible death, he 
was so frightened, and trembled so violently, 
that he had neither voice nor breath left for 
further entreaties. 

But the poor boy implored with his eyes! 
The green fisherman, however, without caring 
in the least, plunged him five or six times in 
the flour, until he was white from head to foot, 
and looked like a puppet made of plaster. 

He then took him by the head, and.... 


XXIX 


HE RETURNS TO THE FAIRY’S HOUSE. SHE 
PROMISES HIM THAT THE FOLLOWING DAY 
HE SHALL CEASE TO BE A PUPPET AND SHALL 
BECOME A BOY. GRAND BREAKFAST OF 
COFFEE AND MILK TO CELEBRATE THIS GREAT 
EVENT 

UST as the fisherman was on the point of 



throwing Pinocchio into the frying-pan a 


large dog entered the cave, enticed there 
by the strong and savoury odour of fried fish. 

“ Get out! ” shouted the fisherman threat¬ 
eningly, holding the floured puppet in his hand. 

But the poor dog, who was as hungry as a 
wolf, whined and wagged his tail as much as 
to say: 

“ Give me a mouthful of fish and I will 
leave you in peace.” 

“ Get out, I tell you! ” repeated the fisher¬ 
man, and he stretched out his leg to give him 
a kick. 

But the dog, who, when he was really hun¬ 
gry, would not stand trifling, turned upon him, 
growling and showing his terrible tusks. 

At that moment a little feeble voice was 
heard in the cave saying entreatingly: 

“ Save me, Alidoro! If you do not save 
me I shall be fried! . . 


157 


158 


PINOCCHIO 


The dog recognised Pinocchio’s voice, and 
to his extreme surprise perceived that it pro¬ 
ceeded from the floured bundle that the fisher¬ 
man held in his hand. 

So what do you think he did? He made a 
spring, seized the bundle in his mouth, and hold¬ 
ing it gently between his teeth he rushed out 
of the cave and was gone like a flash of 
lightning. 

The fisherman, furious at seeing a fish he 
was so anxious to eat snatched from him, ran 
after the dog; but he had not gone many steps 
when he was taken with a fit of coughing and 
had to give it up. 

Alidoro, when he had reached the path that 
led to the village, stopped, and put his friend 
Pinocchio gently on the ground. 

“How much I have to thank you for!” 
said the puppet. 

“ There is no necessity,” replied the dog. 
“ You saved me and I have now returned it. 
You know that we must all help each other in 
this world.” 

“ But how came you to come to the cave? ” 

“ I was lying on the shore more dead than 
alive when the wind brought to me the smell of 
fried fish. The smell excited my appetite, 
and I followed it up. If I had arrived a second 
later. . . .” 


PINOCCHIO 


159 


“ Do not mention it! ” groaned Pinocchio, 
who was still trembling with fright. “ Do not 
mention it! If you had arrived a second later 
I should by this time have been fried, eaten, 
and digested. Brrr! ... it makes me shudder 
only to think of it!...” 

Alidoro, laughing, extended his right paw 
to the puppet, who shook it heartily in token 
of great friendship, and they then separated. 

The dog took the road home; and Pinoc¬ 
chio, left alone, went to a cottage not far off, 
and said to a little old man who was warming 
himself in the sun: 

“ Tell me, good man, do you know any¬ 
thing of a poor boy called Eugene who was 
wounded in the head?...” 

“ The boy was brought by some fishermen 
to this cottage, and now. . . .” 

“ And now he is dead! . . .” interrupted 
Pinocchio with great sorrow. 

“ No, he is alive, and has returned to his 
home.” 

“ Not really? not really? ” cried the puppet, 
dancing with delight. “ Then the wound was 
not serious? . . .” 

“ It might have been very serious and even 
fatal,” answered the old man, “ for they threw 
a thick book bound in cardboard at his head.” 

“ And who threw it at him? ” 


160 


PINOCCHIO 


“ One of his schoolfellows, a certain Pin- 
occhio. . . 

“ And who is this Pinocchio? ” asked the 
puppet, pretending ignorance. 

“ They say that he is a bad boy, a vagabond, 
a regular good-for-nothing. . . .” 

“ Calumnies! all calumnies! ” 

“Do you know this Pinocchio?” 

“ By sight,” answered the puppet. 

“ And what is your opinion of him? ” asked 
the little man. 

“ He seems to me to be a very good boy, 
anxious to learn, and obedient and affectionate 
to his father and family. . . .” 

Whilst the puppet was firing off all these 
lies, he touched his nose and perceived that it 
had lengthened more than a hand. Very much 
alarmed he began to cry out: 

“ Don’t believe, good man, what I have been 
telling you. I know Pinocchio very well, and 
I can assure you that he is really a very bad 
boy, disobedient and idle, who instead of going 
to school runs off with his companions to amuse 
himself.” 

He had hardly finished speaking when his 
nose became shorter and returned to the same 
size that it was before. 

“ And why are you all covered with white? ” 
asked the old man suddenly. 


PINOCCHIO 


161 


“ I will tell you. . . . Without observing it 
I rubbed myself against a wall which had been 
freshly whitewashed,” answered the puppet, 
ashamed to confess that he had been floured 
like a fish prepared for the frying-pan. 

“ And what have you done with your 
jacket, your trousers, and your cap? ” 

“ I met with robbers who took them from 
me. Tell me, good old man, could you per¬ 
haps give me some clothes to return home in? ” 
“ My boy, as to clothes, I have nothing but 
a little sack in which I keep beans. If you wish 
for it, take it; there it is.” 

Pinocchio did not wait to be told twice. He 
took the sack at once, and with a pair of scissors 
he cut a hole at the end and at each side, and 
put it on like a shirt. And with this slight 
clothing he set off for the village. 

But as he went he did not feel at all com¬ 
fortable—so little so, indeed, that for a step 
forward he took another backwards, and he 
said, talking to himself: 

“ How shall I ever present myself to my 
good little Fairy? What will she say when 
she sees me? . . . Will she forgive me this 
second escapade? ... I bet that she will not 
forgive me! Oh, I am sure that she will not 
forgive me! . . . And it serves me right, for I 
11 


162 


PINOCCHIO 


am a rascal. I am always promising to correct 
myself, and I never keep my word! . . .” 

When he reached the village it was night 
and very dark. A storm had come on, and 
as the rain was coming down in torrents he 
went straight to the Fairy’s house, resolved to 
knock at the door, and hoping to be let in. 

But when he was there his courage failed 
him, and instead of knocking he ran away some 
twenty paces. He returned to the door a 
second time, but could not make up his mind; 
he came back a third time, still he dared not; 
the fourth time he laid hold of the knocker and, 
trembling, gave a little knock. 

He waited and waited. At last, after half 
an hour had passed, a window on the top floor 
was opened—the house was four stories high— 
and Pinocchio saw a Snail with a lighted candle 
on her head looking out. She called to him: 

“ Who is there at this hour? ” 

“ Is the Fairy at home? ” asked the puppet. 

“ The Fairy is asleep and must not be 
awakened; but who are you? ” 

“ It is I!” 

“ Who is I?” 

“ Pinocchio.” 

“ And who is Pinocchio? ” 

“ The puppet who lives in the Fairy’s 
house.” 


PINOCCHIO 


163 


“Ah, I understand! ” said the Snail. “Wait 
for me there. I will come down and open the 
door directly.” 

“ Be quick, for pity’s sake, for I am dying 
of cold.” 

“ My boy, I am a snail, and snails are never 
in a hurry.” 

An hour passed, and then two, and the door 
was not opened. Pinocchio, who was wet 
through, and trembling from cold and fear, at 
last took courage and knocked again, and this 
time he knocked louder. 

At this second knock a window on the lower 
story opened, and the same Snail appeared at it. 

“ Beautiful little Snail,” cried Pinocchio 
from the street, “ I have been waiting for two 
hours! And two hours on such a bad night 
seem longer than two years. Be quick, for 
pity’s sake.” 

“ My boy,” answered the calm, phlegmatic 
little animal—“ my boy, I am a snail, and 
snails are never in a hurry.” 

And the window was shut again. 

Shortly afterwards midnight struck; then 
one o’clock, then two o’clock, and the door 
remained still closed. 

Pinocchio at last, losing all patience, seized 
the knocker in a rage, intending to give a blow 
that would resound through the house. But 


164 


PINOCCHIO 


the knocker, which was iron, turned suddenly 
into an eel, and slipping out of his hands dis¬ 
appeared in the stream of water that ran down 
the middle of the street. 

“ Ah! is that it? ” shouted Pinocchio, blind 
with rage. “ Since the knocker has disap¬ 
peared, I will kick instead with all my might.” 

And drawing a little back he gave a tre¬ 
mendous kick against the house door. The blow 
was indeed so violent that his foot went through 
the wood and stuck; and when he tried to draw 
it back again it was trouble thrown away, for 
it remained fixed like a nail that has been 
hammered down. 

Think of poor Pinocchio! He was obliged 
to spend the remainder of the night with one 
foot on the ground and the other in the air. 

The following morning at daybreak the 
door was at last opened. That clever little 
Snail had taken only nine hours to come down 
from the fourth story to the door. It is evident 
that her exertions must have been great. 

“ What are you doing with your foot stuck 
in the door? ” she asked the puppet, laughing. 

“ It was an accident. Do try, beautiful 
little Snail, if you cannot release me from this 
torture.” 

“ My boy, that is the work of a carpenter, 
and I have never been a carpenter.” 


PINOCCHIO 


165 


“ Beg the Fairy from me! . . .” 

“ The Fairy is asleep and must not be 
wakened.” 

“But what do you suppose that I can do 
all day nailed to this door? ” 

“ Amuse yourself by counting the ants that 
pass down the street.” 

“ Bring me at least something to eat, for 
I am quite exhausted.” 

“ At once,” said the Snail. 

In fact, after three hours and a half she 
returned to Pinocchio carrying a silver tray 
on her head. The tray contained a loaf of 
bread, a roast chicken, and four ripe apricots. 

“ Here is the breakfast that the Fairy has 
sent you,” said the Snail. 

The puppet felt very much comforted at 
the sight of these good things. But when he 
began to eat them, what was his disgust at 
making the discovery that the bread was 
plaster, the chicken cardboard, and the four 
apricots painted alabaster. 

He wanted to cry. In his desperation he 
tried to throw away the tray and all that was 
on it; but instead, either from grief or exhaus¬ 
tion, he fainted away. 

When he came to himself he found that he 
was lying on a sofa, and the Fairy was beside 
him. 


166 


PINOCCHIO 


“ I will pardon you once more,” the Fairy 
said, “ but woe to you if you behave badly a 
third time! . . 

Pinocchio promised, and swore that he 
would study, and that for the future he would 
always conduct himself well. 

And he kept his word for the remainder of 
the year. Indeed, at the examinations before 
the holidays, he had the honour of being the 
first in the school, and his behaviour in general 
was so satisfactory and praiseworthy that the 
Fairy was very much pleased, and said to him: 

“ To-morrow your wish shall be gratified.” 

“ And that is? ” 

“ To-morrow you shall cease to be a wooden 
puppet, and you shall become a boy.” 

No one who had not witnessed it could ever 
imagine Pinocchio’s joy at this long-sighed-for 
good fortune. All his schoolfellows were to be 
invited for the following day to a grand break¬ 
fast at the Fairy’s house, that they might cele¬ 
brate together the great event. The Fairy had 
prepared two hundred cups of coffee and milk, 
and four hundred rolls cut and buttered on each 
side. The day promised to be most happy and 
delightful, but . . . 

Unfortunately in the lives of puppets there 
is always a “ but ” that spoils everything. 


XXX 


PINOCCHIO, INSTEAD OF BECOMING A BOY, STARTS 
SECRETLY WITH HIS FRIEND CANDLEWICK 
FOR THE “ LAND OF BOOBIES ” 


P INOCCHIO, as was natural, asked the 
Fairy’s permission to go round the town 
to make the invitations; and the Fairy 
said to him: 

“ Go if you like and invite your companions 
for the breakfast to-morrow, but remember to 
return home before dark. Have you under¬ 
stood? ” 

“ I promise to be back in an hour,” answered 
the puppet. 

“ Take care, Pinocchio! Boys are always 
very ready to promise; but generally they are 
little given to keep their word.” 

“ But I am not like other boys. When I 
say a thing, I do it.” 

“We shall see. If you are disobedient, so 
much the worse for you.” 

“ Why? ” 

“ Because boys who do not listen to the 
advice of those who know more than they do 
always meet with some misfortune or other.” 

“ I have experienced that,” said Pinocchio. 
“ But I shall never make that mistake again.” 
“We shall see if that is true.” 


167 


168 


PINOCCHIO 


Without saying more the puppet took leave 
of his good Fairy, who was like a mamma to 
him, and went out of the house singing and 
dancing. 

In less than an hour all his friends were 
invited. Some accepted at once heartily; 
others at first required pressing; but when they 
heard that the rolls to be eaten with the cofFee 
were to be buttered on both sides, they ended 
by saying: 

“We will come also, to do you a pleasure. ,, 

Now I must tell you that amongst Pinoc- 
chio’s friends and schoolfellows there was one 
that he greatly preferred and was very fond 
of. This boy’s name was Romeo; but he always 
went by the nickname of Candlewick, because 
he was so thin, straight, and bright like the new 
wick of a little nightlight. 

Candlewick was the laziest and the naugh¬ 
tiest boy in the school; but Pinocchio was de¬ 
voted to him. He had indeed gone at once 
to his house to invite him to the breakfast, but 
he had not found him. He returned a second 
time, but Candlewick was not there. He went 
a third time, but it was in vain. Where could 
he search for him? He looked here, there, 
and everywhere, and at last he saw him hiding 
in the porch of a peasant’s cottage. 


PINOCCHIO 


169 


“ What are you doing there? ” asked 
Pinocchio, coming up to him. 

“ I am waiting for midnight, to start.. 

“ Why, where are you going? ” 

“ Very far, very far, very far away.” 

“ And I have been three times to your house 
to look for you.” 

“ What did you want with me?” 

“ Do you not know the great event? Have 
you not heard of my good fortune? ” 

“ What is it? ” 

“ To-morrow I cease to be a puppet, and I 
become a boy like you and all the other boys.” 
“ Much good may it do you.” 

“ To-morrow, therefore, I expect you to 
breakfast at my house.” 

“ But when I tell you that I am going away 
to-night.” 

“ At what o’clock? ” 

“ In a short time.” 

“ And where are you going? ” 

“ I am going to live in a country . . . the 
most delightful country in the world: a real 
land of Cocagne! . . .” 

“ And how is it called? ” 

“ It is called the ‘ Land of Boobies.’ Why 
do you not come too? ” 

“I? No, never!” 


170 


PINOCCHIO 


“ You are wrong, Pinocchio. Believe me, 
if you do not come you will repent it. Where 
could you find a better country for us boys? 
There are no schools there: there are no mas¬ 
ters: there are no books. In that delightful 
land nobody ever studies. On Thursday there 
is never school; and every week consists of six 
Thursdays and one Sunday. Only think, the 
autumn holidays begin on the 1st of January 
and finish on the last day of December. That 
is the country for me! That is what all civilised 
countries should be like! . . 

“ But how are the days spent in the ‘ Land 
of Boobies ’? ” 

“ They are spent in play and amusement 
from morning till night. When night comes 
you go to bed, and recommence the same life 
in the morning. What do you think of it? ” 

“Hum! . . said Pinocchio; and he shook 
his head slightly as much as to say, “ That is 
a life that I also would willingly lead.” 

“ Well, will you go with me? Yes or no? 
Resolve quickly.” 

“No, no, no, and again no. I promised 
my good Fairy to become a well-conducted boy, 
and I will keep my word. And as I see that 
the sun is setting I must leave you at once and 
run away. Good-bye, and a pleasant journey 
to you.” 


PINOCCHIO 


171 


“ Where are you rushing off to in such a 
hurry? ” 

“ Home. My good Fairy wishes me to be 
back before dark.” 

“ Wait another two minutes.” 

“ It will make me too late.” 

“ Only two minutes.” 

“ And if the Fairy scolds me? ” 

“ Let her scold. When she has scolded 
well she will hold her tongue,” said that rascal 
Candlewick. 

“ And what are you going to do? Are you 
going alone or with companions? ” 

“ Alone ? We shall be more than a hundred 
boys.” 

“ And do you make the journey on foot? ” 

“ A coach will pass by shortly which is to 
take me to that happy country.” 

“ What would I not give for the coach to 
pass by now!. . .” 

“ Why? ” 

“ That I might see you all start together.” 

“ Stay here a little longer and you will see 
us.” 

“ No, no, I must go home.” 

“ Wait another two minutes.” 

“ I have already delayed too long. The 
Fairy will be anxious about ipe.” 


172 


PINOCCHIO 


“ Poor Fairy! Is she afraid that the bats 
will eat you? ” 

“ But now,” continued Pinocchio, “ are you 
really certain that there are no schools in that 
country? . . 

“ Not even the shadow of one.” 

“ And no masters either? . . .” 

“ Not one.” 

“ And no one is ever made to study? ” 

“ Never, never, never! ” 

“ What a delightful country! ” said Pinoc¬ 
chio, his mouth watering. “ What a delightful 
country! I have never been there, but I can 
quite imagine it . . .” 

“ Why will you not come also? ” 

“ It is useless to tempt me. I promised my 
good Fairy to become a sensible boy, and I 
will not break my word.” 

“ Good-bye, then, and give my compliments 
to all the boys at the gjunnasiums, and also to 
those of the lyceums, if you meet them in the 
street.” 

“ Good-bye, Candlewick: a pleasant jour¬ 
ney to you, amuse yourself, and think some¬ 
times of your friends.” 

Thus saying, the puppet made two steps to 
go, but then stopped, and turning to his friend 
he inquired: 

“But are you quite certain that in that 


PINOCCHIO 173 

country all the weeks consist of six Thursdays 
and one Sunday? ” 

“ Most certain.” 

“ But do you know for certain that the 
holidays begin on the 1st of January and finish 
on the last day of December? ” 

“ Assuredly.” 

“What a delightful country!” repeated 
Pinocchio, looking enchanted. Then, with a 
resolute air, he added in a great hurry: 

“ This time really good-bye, and a pleasant 
iourney to you.” 

“ Good-bye.” 

“ When do you start? ” 

“ Shortly.” 

“ What a pity! If really it wanted only an 
hour to the time of your start, I should be 
almost tempted to wait.” 

“ And the Fairy? ” 

“ It is already late. ... If I return home 
an hour sooner or an hour later it will be all 
the same.” 

“ Poor Pinocchio! And if the Fairy scolds 
you? ” 

“ I must have patience! I will let her scold. 
When she has scolded well she will hold her 
tongue.” 

In the meantime night had come on and it 
was quite dark. Suddenly they saw in the 


174 


PINOCCHIO 


distance a small light moving . . . and they 
heard a noise of talking, and the sound of a 
trumpet, but so small and feeble that it re¬ 
sembled the hum of a mosquito. 

“ Here it is! ” shouted Candlewick, jump¬ 
ing to his feet. 

“ What is it? ” asked Pinocchio in a whisper. 

“ It is the coach coming to take me. Now 
will you come, yes or no? ” 

“ But is it really true,” asked the puppet, 
“ that in that country boys are never obliged 
to study? ” 

“ Never, never, never! ” 

“ What a delightful country! . . . What a 
delightful country! . . . What a delightful 
country! ” 


XXXI 


AFTER FIVE MONTHS’ RESIDENCE IN THE LAND OF 
COCAGNE, PINOCCHIO, TO HIS GREAT ASTON¬ 
ISHMENT, GROWS A BEAUTIFUL PAIR OF 
DONKEY’S EARS, AND HE BECOMES A LITTLE 
DONKEY, TAIL AND ALL 



T last the coach arrived; and it arrived 


without making the slightest noise, for 
its wheels were bound round with tow 


and rags. 

It was drawn by twelve pairs of donkeys, 
all the same size but of different colours. 

Some were gray, some white, some brindled 
like pepper and salt, and others had large 
stripes of yellow and blue. 

But the most extraordinary thing was this: 
the twelve pairs, that is, the twenty-four don¬ 
keys, instead of being shod like other beasts 
of burden, had on their feet men’s boots made 
of white kid. 

And the coachman? . . . 

Picture to yourself a little man broader 
than he was long, flabby and greasy like a lump 
of butter, with a small round face like an 
orange, a little mouth that was always laugh¬ 
ing, and a soft caressing voice like a cat’s when 
she is trying to insinuate herself into the good 
graces of the mistress of the house. 


175 


176 


PINOCCHIO 


All the boys as soon as they saw him fell 
in love with him, and vied with each other in 
taking places in his coach to be conducted to 
the true land of Cocagne, known on the geo¬ 
graphical map by the seducing name of the 
“ Land of Boobies.” 

The coach was in fact quite full of boys 
between eight and twelve years old, heaped 
one upon another like herrings in a barrel. 
They were uncomfortable, packed close to¬ 
gether and could hardly breathe: but nobody 
said Oh!—nobody grumbled. The consolation 
of knowing that in a few hours they would 
reach a country where there were no books, 
no schools, and no masters, made them so happy 
and resigned that they felt neither fatigue nor 
inconvenience, neither hunger, nor thirst, nor 
want of sleep. 

As soon as the coach had drawn up, the little 
man turned to Candlewick, and with a thou¬ 
sand smirks and grimaces said to him, smiling: 

“ Tell me, my fine boy, would you also like 
to go to that fortunate country? ” 

“ I certainly wish to go.” 

“ But I must warn you, my dear child, that 
there is not a place left in the coach. You can 
see for yourself that it is quite full. . .” 

“No matter,” replied Candlewick; “if 


PINOCCHIO 177 

there is no place inside, I will manage to sit 
on the springs.” 

And giving a leap he seated himself astride 
on the springs. 

“ And you, my love!..said the little man, 
turning in a flattering manner to Pinocchio, 
“ what do you intend to do? Are you coming 
with us, or are you going to remain behind? ” 

“ I remain behind,” answered Pinocchio. 
“ I am going home. I intend to study and to 
earn a good character at school, as all well- 
conducted boys do.” 

“ Much good may it do you! ” 

“ Pinocchio! ” called out Candlewick, 
“ listen to me: come with us and we shall have 
such fun.” 

“ No, no, no! ” 

“ Come with us, and we shall have such 
fun! ” cried four other voices from the inside 
of the coach. 

“ Come with us, and we shall have such 
fun! ” shouted in chorus a hundred voices from 
the inside of the coach. 

“ But if I come with you, what will my good 
Fairy say?” said the puppet, beginning to yield. 

“ Do not trouble your head with melancholy 
thoughts. Consider only that we are going to 
a country where we shall be at liberty to run 
riot from morning till night.” 

12 


178 


PINOCCHIO 


Pinocchio did not answer; but he sighed: 
he sighed again: he sighed for the third time, 
and he said finally: 

“ Make a little room for me, for I am com¬ 
ing too.” 

“ The places are all full,” replied the little 
man; “ but to show you how welcome you are, 
you shall have my seat on the box ...” 

“ And you? . . .” 

“ Oh, I will go on foot.” 

“ No, indeed, I could not allow that. I 
would rather mount one of these donkeys,” 
cried Pinocchio. 

Approaching the right-hand donkey of the 
first pair he attempted to mount him, but the 
animal turned on him, and giving him a great 
blow in the stomach rolled him over with his 
legs in the air. 

You can imagine the impertinent and im¬ 
moderate laughter of all the boys who wit¬ 
nessed this scene. 

But the little man did not laugh. He ap¬ 
proached the rebellious donkey and, pretend¬ 
ing to give him a kiss, bit off half of his ear. 

Pinocchio in the meantime had got up from 
the ground in a fury, and with a spring he 
seated himself on the poor animal’s back. And 
he sprang so well that the boys stopped laugh¬ 
ing and began to shout: “ Hurrah, Pinocchio! ” 


PINOCCHIO 


179 


and they clapped their hands and applauded 
him as if they would never finish. 

But the donkey suddenly kicked up its 
hind-legs and backing violently threw the poor 
puppet into the middle of the road on to a heap 
of stones. 

The roars of laughter recommenced: but 
the little man, instead of laughing, felt such 
affection for the restive ass that he kissed him 
again, and as he did so he bit half of his other 
ear clean off. He then said to the puppet: 

“ Mount him now without fear. That little 
donkey had got some whim into his head; but 
I whispered two little words into his ears which 
have, I hope, made him gentle and reasonable.” 

Pinocchio mounted, and the coach started. 
Whilst the donkeys were galloping and the 
coach was rattling over the stones of the high 
road, the puppet thought that he heard a low 
voice that was scarcely intelligible saying to 
him: 

“Poor fool! you would follow your own 
way, but you will repent it! ” 

Pinocchio, feeling almost frightened, looked 
from side to side to try and discover where these 
words could come from: but he saw nobody. 
The donkeys galloped, the coach rattled, the 
boys inside slept, Candlewick snored like a 


180 


PINOCCHIO 


dormouse, and the little man seated on the box 
sang between his teeth: 

“ During the night all sleep, 

But I sleep never . . ” 

After they had gone another mile, Pinoc- 
chio heard the same little low voice saying to 
him: 

“Bear it in mind, simpleton! Boys who 
refuse to study, and turn their backs upon 
books, schools, and masters, to pass their time 
in play and amusement, sooner or later come 
to a bad end. ... I know it by experience . . . 
and I can tell you. A day will come when you 
will weep as I am weeping now . . . but then 
it will be too late!. . .” 

On hearing these words whispered very 
softly the puppet, more frightened than ever, 
sprang down from the back of his donkey and 
went and took hold of his mouth. 

Imagine his surprise when he found that the 
donkey was crying . . . and he was crying like 
a boy! 

“Eh! Sir coachman,” cried Pinocchio to 
the little man, “ here is an extraordinary thing! 
This donkey is crying.” 

“ Let him cry; he will laugh when he is a 
bridegroom.” 


PINOCCHIO 


181 


“ But have you by chance taught him to 
talk? ” 

“No; but he spent three years in a com¬ 
pany of learned dogs, and he learnt to mutter 
a few words.” 

“ Poor beast! ” 

“ Come, come,” said the little man, “ don’t 
let us waste time in seeing a donkey cry. Mount 
him, and let us go on: the night is cold and the 
road is long.” 

Pinocchio obeyed without another word. In 
the morning about daybreak they arrived safely 
in the “ Land of Boobies.” 

It was a country unlike any other country 
in the world. The population was composed 
entirely of boys. The oldest were fourteen, 
and the youngest scarcely eight years old. In 
the streets there was such merriment, noise, 
and shouting, that it was enough to turn any¬ 
body’s head. There were troops of boys every¬ 
where. Some were playing with nuts, some 
with battledores, some with balls. Some rode 
velocipedes, others wooden horses. A party 
were playing at hide and seek, a few were chas¬ 
ing each other. Boys dressed in straw were 
eating lighted tow; some were reciting, some 
singing, some leaping. Some were amusing 
themselves with walking on their hands with 
their feet in the air; others were trundling 


182 


PINOCCHIO 


hoops, or strutting about dressed as generals, 
wearing leaf helmets and commanding a squad¬ 
ron of cardboard soldiers. Some were laugh¬ 
ing, some shouting, some were calling out; 
others clapped their hands, or whistled, or 
clucked like a hen who has just laid an egg. 
To sum it all up, it was such a pandemonium, 
such a bedlam, such an uproar, that not to be 
deafened it would have been necessary to stuff 
one’s ears with cotton wool. In every square, 
canvas theatres had been erected, and they were 
crowded with boys from morning till evening. 
On the walls of the houses there were inscrip¬ 
tions written in charcoal: “Long live play¬ 
things, we will have no more schools: down with 
arithmetic: ” and similar other fine sentiments 
all in bad spelling. 

Pinocchio, Candlewick, and the other boys 
who had made the journey with the little man, 
had scarcely set foot in the town before they 
were in the thick of the tumult, and I need not 
tell you that in a few minutes they had made 
acquaintance with everybody. Where could 
happier or more contented boys be found? 

In the midst of continual games and every 
variety of amusement, the hours, the days, and 
the weeks passed like lightning. 

“ Oh, what a delightful life! ” said Pinoc¬ 
chio, whenever by chance he met Candlewick. 


PINOCCHIO 


183 


“ See, then, if I was not right? ” replied the 
other. “ And to think that you did not want 
to come! To think that you had taken it into 
your head to return home to your Fairy, and to 
lose your time in studying! ... If you are at 
this moment free from the bother of books and 
school, you must acknowledge that you owe it 
to me, to my advice and to my persuasions. It 
is only friends who know how to render such 
great services.” 

“ It is true, Candlewick! If I am now a 
really happy boy, it is all your doing. But do 
you know what the master used to say when 
he talked to me of you? He always said to 
me: ‘ Do not associate with that rascal Candle- 
wick, for he is a bad companion, and will only 
lead you into mischief! . . .’ ” 

“ Poor master! ” replied the other, shaking 
his head. “ I know only too well that he dis¬ 
liked me, and amused himself by calumniating 
me; but I am generous and I forgive him! ” 
“Noble soul!” said Pinocchio, embracing 
his friend and kissing him between the eyes. 

This delightful life had gone on for five 
months. The days had been entirely spent in 
play and amusement, without a thought of 
books or school, when one morning Pinocchio 
awoke to a most disagreeable surprise that put 
him into a very bad humour. 


XXXII 

PINOCCHIO GETS DONKEY’S EARS 4 , AND THEN HE 
BECOMES A REAL LITTLE DONKEY AND BEGINS 
TO BRAY 


W HAT was this surprise? 

I will tell you, my dear little readers. 
The surprise was that Pinocchio when 
he awoke scratched his head; and in scratching 
his head he discovered. . . . Can you guess in 
the least what he discovered? 

He discovered to his great astonishment 
that his ears had grown more than a hand. 

You know that the puppet from his birth 
had always had very small ears—so small that 
they were not visible to the naked eye. You 
can imagine then what he felt when he found 
that during the night his ears had become so 
long that they seemed like two brooms. 

He went at once in search of a glass that 
he might look at himself, but not being able 
to find one he filled the basin of his washing- 
stand with water, and he saw reflected what 
he certainly would never have wished to see. 
He saw his head embellished with a magnificent 
pair of donkey’s ears! 

Only think of poor Pinocchio’s sorrow, 
shame, and despair! 

He began to cry and roar, and he beat his 

184 


PINOCCHIO 


185 


head against the wall; but the more he cried 
the longer his ears grew: they grew, and grew, 
and became hairy towards the points. 

At the sound of his loud outcries a beau¬ 
tiful little Marmot that lived on the first floor 
came into the room. Seeing the puppet in 
such grief she asked earnestly: 

“ What has happened to you, my dear 
fellow-lodger? ” 

“ I am ill, my dear little Marmot, very ill 
. . . and of an illness that frightens me. Do 
you understand counting a pulse? ” 

“ A little.” 

“ Then feel and see if by chance I have got 
fever.” 

The little Marmot raised her right fore¬ 
paw, and after having felt Pinocchio’s pulse 
she said to him, sighing: 

“ My friend, I am grieved to be obliged to 
give you bad news! ...” 

“ What is it? ” 

“ You have got a very bad fever!.. 

“ What fever is it? ” 

“ It is donkey fever.” 

“ That is a fever that I do not understand,” 
said the puppet, but he understood it only too 
well. 

“ Then I will explain it to you,” said the 
Marmot. “ You must know that in two or 


186 PINOCCHIO 

three hours you will be no longer a puppet, or 
a boy. . . 

“ Then what shall I be? ” 

“ In two or three hours you will become 
really and truly a little donkey, like those that 
draw carts and carry cabbages and salad to 
market.” 

“ Oh! unfortunate that I am! unfortunate 
that I am!” cried Pinocchio, seizing his two 
ears with his hands, and pulling them and 
tearing them furiously as if they had been some 
one else’s ears. 

“ My dear boy,” said the Marmot, by way 
of consoling him, “what can you do to pre¬ 
vent it? It is destiny. It is written in the 
decrees of wisdom that all boys who are lazy, 
and who take a dislike to books, to schools, and 
to masters, and who pass their time in amuse¬ 
ment, games, and diversions, must end sooner 
or later by becoming transformed into so many 
little donkeys.” 

“But is it really so? ” asked the puppet, 
sobbing. 

“ It is indeed only too true! And tears are 
now useless. You should have thought of it 
sooner! ” 

“ But it was not my fault: believe me, little 
Marmot, the fault was all Candlewick’s! . . .” 

“ And who is this Candlewick? ” 


PINOCCHIO 


187 


“ One of my schoolfellows. I wanted to 
return home: I wanted to be obedient. I wished 
to study and to earn a good character . . . but 
Candlewick said to me: ‘ Why should you 
bother yourself by studying? Why should you 
go to school? . . . Come with us instead to the 
“ Land of Boobies there we shall none of 
us have to learn: there we shall amuse our¬ 
selves from morning to night, and we shall 
always be merry.’ ” 

“And why did you follow the advice of 
that false friend? of that bad companion? ” 

“ Why?... Because, my dear little Marmot, 
I am a puppet with no sense . . . and with no 
heart. Ah! if I had had the least heart I should 
never have left that good Fairy who loved me 
like a mamma, and who had done so much for 
me! . . . and I should be no longer a puppet 
. . . for I should by this time have become a 
little boy like so many others! But if I meet 
Candlewick, woe to him! He shall hear what 
I think of him! . . .” 

And he turned to go out. But when he 
reached the door he remembered his donkey’s 
ears, and feeling ashamed to show them in pub¬ 
lic, what do you think he did? He took a big 
cotton cap, and putting it on his head he pulled 
it well down over the point of his nose. 

He then set out, and went everywhere in 


188 


PINOCCHIO 


search of Candlewick. He looked for him in 
the streets, in the squares, in the little theatres, 
in every possible place; but he could not find 
him. He inquired for him of everybody he 
met, but no one had seen him. 

He then went to seek him at his house; and 
having reached the door he knocked. 

“ Who is there? ” asked Candlewick. 

“ It is I! ” answered the puppet. 

“ Wait a moment and I will let you in.” 

After half an hour the door was opened, 
and imagine Pinocchio’s feelings when upon 
going into the room he saw his friend Candle- 
wick with a big cotton cap on his head which 
came down over his nose. 

At the sight of the cap Pinocchio felt almost 
consoled, and thought to himself: 

“ Has my friend got the same illness that 
I have? Is he also suffering from donkev 
fever? . . 

And pretending to have observed nothing 
he asked him, smiling: 

“ How are you, my dear Candlewick? ” 

“ Very well; as well as a mouse in a Par¬ 
mesan cheese.” 

“ Are you saying that seriously? ” 

“ Why should I tell you a lie? ” 

“ Excuse me; but why, then, do you keep 
on that cotton cap which covers up your ears? ” 


PINOCCHIO 


189 


“ The doctor ordered me to wear it because 
I have hurt this knee. And you, dear puppet, 
why have you got on that cotton cap pulled 
down over your nose?” 

“ The doctor prescribed it because I have 
grazed my foot.” 

“ Oh, poor Pinocchio! . . 

“ Oh, poor- Candlewick! . . 

After these words a long silence followed, 
during which the two friends did nothing but 
look mockingly at each other. 

At last the puppet said in a soft mellifluous 
voice to his companion: 

“ Satisfy my curiosity, my dear Candle- 
wick: have you ever suffered from disease of 
the ears? ” 

“ Never!... And you? ” 

“ Never! Only since this morning one of 
my ears aches.” 

“ Mine is also paining me.” 

“You also? . . . And which of your ears 
hurts you? ” 

“ Both of them. And you? ” 

“ Both of them. Can we have got the same 
illness? ” 

“ I fear so.” 

“ Will you do me a kindness, Candlewick ? 99 

“Willingly! With all my heart.” 

“ Will you let me see your ears? ” 


190 


PINOCCHIO 


“ Why not? But first, my dear Pinocchio, 
I should like to see yours.” 

“No: you must be the first.” 

“ No, dear! First you and then I! ” 

“ Well,” said the puppet, “ let us come to 
an agreement like good friends.” 

“ Let us hear it.” 

“We will both take off our caps at the 
same moment. Do you agree ? ” 

I agree. 

“ Then attention! ” 

Pinocchio began to count in a loud voice: 

“ One! Two! Three!” 

At the word three! the two boys took off 
their caps and threw them into the air. 

And then a scene followed that would seem 
incredible if it was not true. That is, that when 
Pinocchio and Candlewick discovered that 
they were both struck with the same misfor¬ 
tune, instead of feeling full of mortification 
and grief, they began to prick their ungainly 
ears and to make a thousand antics, and they 
ended by going into bursts of laughter. 

And they laughed, and laughed, and 
laughed, until they had to hold themselves to¬ 
gether. But in the midst of their merriment, 
Candlewick suddenly stopped, staggered, and 
changing colour said to his friend: 

“ Help, help, Pinocchio! ” 



AND THEY LAUGHED, AND LAUGHED, AND LAUGHED 


























PINOCCHIO 


191 


“ What is the matter with you? ” 

“ Alas, I cannot any longer stand upright.” 

“ No more can I,” exclaimed Pinocchio, 
tottering and beginning to cry. 

And whilst they were talking they both 
doubled up and began to run round the room 
on their hands and feet. And as they ran, their 
hands became hoofs, their faces lengthened into 
muzzles, and their backs became covered with 
a light gray hairy coat sprinkled with black. 

But do you know what was the worst mo¬ 
ment for these two wretched boys ? The worst 
and the most humiliating moment was when 
their tails grew. Vanquished by shame and 
by sorrow they wept and lamented their fate. 

Oh, if they had but been wiser! But in¬ 
stead of sighs and lamentations they could only 
bray like asses; and they brayed loudly and 
said in chorus: “ j-a, j-a, j-a.” 

Whilst this was going on some one knocked 
at the door, and a voice on the outside said: 

“ Open the door! I am the little man, I 
am the coachman, who brought you to this 
country. Open at once, or it will be the worse 
for you! ” 


XXXIII 


PINOCCHIO, HAYING BECOME A GENUINE LITTLE 
DONKEY, IS TAKEN TO BE SOLD, AND IS 
BOUGHT BY THE DIRECTOR OF A COMPANY OF 
BUFFOONS TO BE TAUGHT TO DANCE, AND TO 
JUMP THROUGH HOOPS: BUT ONE EVENING 
HE LAMES HIMSELF, AND THEN HE IS 
BOUGHT BY A MAN WHO PURPOSES TO MAKE 
A DRUM OF HIS SKIN 



INDING that the door remained shut 


the little man burst it open with a violent 


kick, and coming into the room he said 
to Pinocchio and Candlewick with his usual 
little laugh: 

“Well done, boys! You brayed well, and 
I recognised you by your voices. That is why 
I am here.” 

At these words the two little donkeys were 
quite stupefied, and stood with their heads 
down, their ears lowered, and their tails be¬ 
tween their legs. 

At first the little man stroked and caressed 
them; then taking out a currycomb he curry- 
combed them well. And when by this process 
he had polished them till they shone like two 
mirrors, he put a halter round their necks and 
led them to the market-place, in hopes of sell¬ 
ing them and making a good profit. 


192 


PINOCCHIO 


193 


And indeed buyers were not wanting. 
Candlewick was bought by a peasant whose 
donkey had died the previous day. Pinocchio 
was sold to the director of a company of buf¬ 
foons and tight-rope dancers, who bought him 
that he might teach him to leap and to dance 
with the animals belonging to the company. 

And now, my little readers, you will have 
understood the fine trade that little man pur¬ 
sued. The wicked little monster, who had a 
face all milk and honey, made frequent jour¬ 
neys round the world with his coach. As he 
went along he collected, with promises and 
flattery, all the idle boys who had taken an 
aversion to books and school. As soon as his 
coach was full he conducted them to the “ Land 
of Boobies,” that they might pass their time 
in games, in uproar, and in amusement. When 
these poor deluded boys, from continual play 
and no study, had become so many little don¬ 
keys, he took possession of them with great 
delight and satisfaction, and carried them off 
to the fairs and markets to be sold. And in 
this way he had in a few years made heaps of 
money and had become a millionaire. 

What became of Candlewick I do not know; 
but I do know that Pinocchio from the very 
first day had to endure a hard, laborious life. 

When he was put into his stall his master 
is 


194 


PINOCCHIO 


filled the manger with straw; but Pinocchio, 
having tried a mouthful, spat it out again. 

Then his master, grumbling, filled the 
manger with hay; but neither did the hay 
please him. 

“ Ah! ” exclaimed his master in a passion. 
“ Does not hay please you either? Leave it 
to me, my fine donkey; if you are so full of 
caprices I will find a way to cure you! . . .” 

And by way of correcting him he struck his 
legs with his whip. 

Pinocchio began to cry and to bray with 
pain, and he said, braying: 

“ J-a, j-a, I cannot digest straw! . . 

‘‘Then eat hay!” said his master, who 
understood perfectly the asinine dialect. 

“J-a, j-a, hay gives me a pain in my 
stomach.” 

“ Do you mean to pretend that a little don¬ 
key like you must be kept on breasts of chickens, 
and capons in jelly? ” asked his master, getting 
more and more angry, and whipping him again. 

At this second whipping Pinocchio pru¬ 
dently held his tongue and said nothing more. 

The stable was then shut and Pinocchio 
was left alone. He had not eaten for many 
hours, and he began to yawn from hunger. 
And when he yawned he opened a mouth that 
seemed as wide as an oven. 


PINOCCHIO 


195 


At last, finding nothing else in the manger, 
he resigned himself, and chewed a little hay; 
and after he had chewed it well, he shut his 
eyes and swallowed it. 

“ This hay is not bad,” he said to himself; 
“ but how much better it would have been if 
I had gone on with my studies! . . . Instead of 
hay I might now be eating a hunch of new 
bread and a fine slice of sausage! But I must 
have patience! . . 

The next morning when he woke he looked 
in the manger for more hay; but he found none, 
for he had eaten it all during the night. 

Then he took a mouthful of chopped straw; 
but whilst he was chewing it he had to acknowl¬ 
edge that the taste of chopped straw did not 
in the least resemble a savoury dish of maca¬ 
roni or rice. 

“ But I must have patience! ” he repeated 
as he went on chewing. 4 4 May my example 
serve at least as a warning to all disobedient 
boys who do not want to study. Patience! ” 

“Patience indeed!” shouted his master, 
coming at that moment into the stable. “ Do 
you think, my little donkey, that I bought you 
only to give you food and drink? I bought 
you to make you work, and that you might 
earn money for me. Up, then, at once! you 
must come with me into the circus, and there 


196 


PINOCCHIO 


I will teach you to jump through the hoops, to 
go through frames of paper head foremost, to 
dance waltzes and polkas, and to stand upright 
on your hind legs.” 

Poor Pinocchio, either by love or by force, 
had to learn all these fine things. But it took 
him three months before he had learnt them, 
and he got many a whipping that nearly took 
off his skin. 

At last a day came when his master was able 
to announce that he would give a really 
extraordinary representation. The many-col¬ 
oured placards stuck on the street corners were 
thus worded: 

GREAT FULL DRESS REPRESENTATION 


TO-NIGHT 

Will Take Place the Usual Feats 
and Surprising Performances 
Executed by all the Artistes 
and by all the Horses of the Company, 

AND MOREOVER 

The Famous 

LITTLE DONKEY PINOCCHIO, 

CALLED 

THE STAR OF THE DANCE, 

WILL MAKE HIS FIRST APPEARANCE. 


The Theatre will be Brilliantly Illuminated. 




PINOCCHIO 


197 


On that evening, as you may imagine, an 
hour before the play was to begin the theatre 
was crammed. 

There was not a place to be had either in 
the pit or the stalls, or in the boxes even, by 
paying its weight in gold. 

The benches round the circus were crowded 
with children and with boys of all ages, who 
were in a fever of impatience to see the famous 
little donkey Pinocchio dance. 

When the first part of the performance was 
over, the director of the company, dressed in 
a black coat, white shorts, and big leather boots 
that came above his knees, presented himself 
to the public, and after making a profound 
bow he began with much solemnity the follow¬ 
ing ridiculous speech: 

“ Respectable public, ladies and gentlemen! 
The humble undersigned being a passer-by in 
this illustrious city, I have wished to procure 
for myself the honour, not to say the pleasure, 
of presenting to this intelligent and distin¬ 
guished audience a celebrated little donkey, 
who has already had the honour of dancing in 
the presence of His Majesty the Emperor of 
all the principal Courts of Europe. 

“ And thanking you, I beg of you to help 
us with your inspiring presence and to be 
indulgent to us.” 


198 


PINOCCHIO 


This speech was received with much laugh¬ 
ter and applause; but the applause redoubled 
and became tumultuous when the little donkey 
Pinocchio made his appearance in the middle 
of the circus. He was decked out for the occa¬ 
sion. He had a new bridle of polished leather 
with brass buckles and studs, and two white 
camelias in his ears. His mane was divided 
and curled, and each curl was tied with bows 
of coloured ribbon. He had a girth of gold 
and silver round his body, and his tail was 
plaited with amaranth and blue velvet ribbons. 
He was, in fact, a little donkey to fall in love 
with! 

The director, in presenting him to the pub¬ 
lic, added these few words: 

“ My respectable auditors! I am not here 
to tell you falsehoods of the great difficulties 
that I have overcome in understanding and sub¬ 
jugating this mammifer, whilst he was grazing 
at liberty amongst the mountains in the plains 
of the torrid zone. I beg you will observe the 
wild rolling of his eyes. Every means having 
been tried in vain to tame him, and to accustom 
him to the life of domestic quadrupeds, I was 
often forced to have recourse to the convincing 
argument of the whip. But all my goodness 
to him, instead of gaining his affections, has, 
on the contrary, increased his viciousness. 


PINOCCHIO 


199 


However, following the system of Gall, I dis¬ 
covered in his cranium a bony cartilage, that 
the Faculty of Medicine in Paris has itself 
recognised as the regenerating bulb of the hair, 
and of dance. For this reason I have not only 
taught him to dance, but also to jump through 
hoops and through frames covered with paper. 
Admire him, and then pass your opinion on 
him! But before taking my leave of you, per¬ 
mit me, ladies and gentlemen, to invite you 
to the daily performance that will take place 
to-morrow evening; but in the apotheosis that 
the weather should threaten rain, the perform¬ 
ance will be postponed till to-morrow morning 
at 11 antemeridian of postmeridian.” 

Here the director made another profound 
bow; and then turning to Pinocchio, he said: 

“ Courage, Pinocchio! before you begin 
your feats make your bow to this distinguished 
audience—ladies, gentlemen, and children.” 

Pinocchio obeyed, and bent both his knees 
till they touched the ground, and remained 
kneeling until the director shouted to him: 

“ At a foot’s pace! ” 

Then the little donkey raised himself on 
his four legs and began to walk round the 
theatre, keeping at a foot’s pace. 

After a little the director cried: 


200 


PINOCCHIO 


“ Trot! ” and Pinocchio, obeying the order, 
changed to a trot. 

“ Gallop!” and Pinocchio broke into a 
gallop. 

“Full gallop! ” and Pinocchio went full 
gallop. But whilst he was going full speed 
like a racehorse the director, raising his arm 
in the air, fired off a pistol. 

At the shot the little donkey, pretending 
to be wounded, fell his whole length in the cir¬ 
cus, as if he was really dying. 

As he got up from the ground amidst an 
outburst of applause, shouts, and clapping of 
hands, he naturally raised his head and looked 
up . . . and he saw in one of the boxes a beau¬ 
tiful lady who wore round her neck a thick 
gold chain from which hung a medallion. On 
the medallion was painted the portrait of a 
puppet. 

“ That is my portrait! . . . that lady is the 
Fairy! ” said Pinocchio to himself, recognising 
her immediately; and overcome with delight he 
tried to cry: 

“ Oh, my little Fairy! Oh, my little 
Faiiy! ” 

But instead of these words a bray came from 
his throat/ so sonorous and so prolonged that 
all the spectators laughed, and more especially 
all the children who were in the theatre. 


PINOCCHIO 


201 


Then the director, to give him a lesson, 
and to make him understand that it is not good 
manners to bray before the public, gave him a 
blow on his nose with the handle of his whip. 

The poor little donkey put his tongue out 
an inch, and licked his nose for at least five 
minutes, thinking perhaps that it would ease 
the pain he felt. 

But what was his despair when, looking up 
a second time, he saw that the box was empty 
and that the Fairy had disappeared! . . . 

He thought he was going to die: his eyes 
filled with tears and he began to weep. No¬ 
body, however, noticed it, and least of all the 
director who, cracking his whip, shouted: 

“ Courage, Pinocchio! Now let the audi¬ 
ence see how gracefully you can jump through 
the hoops.” 

Pinocchio tried two or three times, but each 
time that he came in front of the hoop, instead 
of going through it, he found it easier to go 
under it. At last he made a leap and went 
through it; but his right leg unfortunately 
caught in the hoop, and that caused him to fall 
to the ground doubled up in a heap on the 
other side. 

When he got up he was lame, and it was 
only with great difficulty that he managed to 
return to the stable. 


202 


PINOCCHIO 


“ Bring out Pinocchio! We want the little 
donkey! Bring out the little donkey! ” shouted 
all the boys in the theatre, touched and sorry 
for the sad accident. 

But the little donkey was seen no more that 
evening. 

The following morning the veterinary, that 
is, the doctor of animals, paid him a visit, and 
declared that he would remain lame for life. 

The director then said to the stable-boy: 

“ What do you suppose I can do with a 
lame donkey? He would eat food without earn¬ 
ing it. Take him to the market and sell him.” 

When they reached the market a purchaser 
was found at once. He asked the stable-boy: 

“ How much do you want for that lame 
donkey?” 

“ Twenty francs.” 

“ I will give you twenty pence. Don’t sup¬ 
pose that I am buying him to make use of; I 
am buying him solely for his skin. I see that 
his skin is very hard, and I intend to make a 
drum with it for the band of my village.” 

I leave it to my readers to imagine poor 
Pinocchio’s feelings when he heard that he was 
destined to become a drum! 

As soon as the purchaser had paid his 
twenty pence he conducted the little donkey to 


PINOCCHIO 


203 


the seashore. He then put a stone round his 
neck, and tying a rope, the end of which he 
held in his hand, round his leg, he gave him a 
sudden push and threw him into the water. 

Pinocchio, weighed down by the stone, went 
at once to the bottom; and his owner, keeping 
tight hold of the cord, sat down quietly on a 
piece of rock to wait until the little donkey was 
drowned, intending then to skin him. 


XXXIV 


PINOCCHIO, HAYING BEEN THROWN INTO THE 
SEA, IS EATEN BY THE FISH AND BECOMES A 
PUPPET AS HE WAS BEFORE. WHILST HE IS 
SWIMMING AWAY TO SAVE HIS LIFE HE IS 
SWALLOWED BY THE TERRIBLE DOG-FISH 

A FTER Pinocchio had been fifty minutes 
under the water, his purchaser said 
A. aloud to himself: 

“ My poor little lame donkey must by this 
time be quite drowned. I will therefore pull 
him out of the water, and I will make a fine 
drum of his skin.” 

And he began to haul in the rope that he 
had tied to the donkey’s leg; and he hauled, 
and hauled, and hauled, until at last . . . what 
do you think appeared above the water? In¬ 
stead of a little dead donkey he saw a live pup¬ 
pet, who was wriggling like an eel. 

Seeing this wooden puppet the poor man 
thought he was dreaming, and, struck dumb 
with astonishment, he remained with his mouth 
open and his eyes starting out of his head. 

Having somewhat recovered from his first 
stupefaction, he asked in a quavering voice: 

“ And the little donkey that I threw into 
the sea? What has become of him? ” 

204 


PINOCCHIO 


205 

“ I am the little donkey! ” said Pinocchio, 
laughing. 

“ You? ” 

« j » 

“ Ah, you young scamp! Do you dare to 
make game of me? ” 

“ To make game of you? Quite the 
contrary, my dear master; I am speaking 
seriously.” 

“ But how can you, who, but a short time 
ago, were a little donkey, have become a wooden 
puppet, only from having been left in the 
water? ” 

“ It must have been the effect of sea-water. 
The sea makes extraordinary changes.” 

“Beware, puppet, beware! . . . Don’t 
imagine that you can amuse yourself at my 
expense. Woe to you, if I lose patience! . . .” 

“ Well, master, do you wish to know the 
true story? If you will set my leg free I will 
tell it you.” 

The good man, who was curious to hear the 
true story, immediately untied the knot that 
kept him bound; and Pinocchio, finding himself 
as free as a bird in the air, commenced as 
follows: 

“ You must know that I was once a pup¬ 
pet as I am now, and I was on the point of 
becoming a boy like the many that there are 


206 


PINOCCHIO 


in the world. But instead, induced by my dis¬ 
like to study and the advice of bad companions, 
I ran away from home . . . and one fine day 
when I awoke I found myself changed into a 
donkey with long ears . . . and a long tail! . . . 
What a disgrace it was to me!—a disgrace, 
dear master, that the blessed St. Anthony 
would not inflict even upon you! Taken to 
the market to be sold I was bought by the 
director of an equestrian company, who took 
it into his head to make a famous dancer of 
me, and a famous leaper through hoops. But 
one night during a performance I had a bad 
fall in the circus and lamed both my legs. Then 
the director, not knowing what to do with a 
lame donkey, sent me to be sold, and you were 
the purchaser! . . .” 

“ Only too true! And I paid twenty pence 
for you. And now who will give me back my 
poor pennies? ” 

“ And why did you buy me? You bought 
me to make a drum of my skin!... a drum!...” 

“ Only too true! And now where shall I 
find another skin? . . .” 

“ Don’t despair, master. There are such a 
number of little donkeys in the world! ” 

“ Tell me, you impertinent rascal, does 
your story end here ? ” 

“No,” answered the puppet; “I have 


PINOCCHIO 


207 


another two words to say and then I shall have 
finished. After you had bought me you brought 
me to this place to kill me; but then, yielding 
to a feeling of compassion, you preferred to 
tie a stone round my neck and to throw me into 
the sea. This humane feeling does you great 
honour, and I shall always be grateful to you 
for it. But nevertheless, dear master, this time 
you made your calculations without considering 
the Fairy! . . .” 

“ And who is this Fairy? ” 

“ She is my mamma, and she resembles all 
other good mammas who care for their chil¬ 
dren, and who never lose sight of them, but 
help them lovingly, even when, on account of 
their foolishness and evil conduct, they deserve 
to be abandoned and left to themselves. Well, 
then, the good Fairy, as soon as she saw that 
I was in danger of drowning, sent immedi¬ 
ately an immense shoal of fish, who, believing 
me really to be a little dead donkey, began to 
eat me. And what mouthfuls they took! I 
should never have thought that fish were 
greedier than boys!... Some ate my ears, some 
my muzzle, others my neck and mane, some the 
skin of my legs, some my coat.. . and amongst 
them there was a little fish so polite that he 
even condescended to eat my tail.” 

“ From this time forth,” said his purchaser, 


208 


PINOCCHIO 


horrified, “ I swear that I will never touch fish. 
It would be too dreadful to open a mullet, or 
a fried whiting, and to find inside a donkey’s 
tail!” 

“ I agree with you,” said the puppet, laugh¬ 
ing. “ However, I must tell you that when 
the fish had finished eating the donkey’s hide 
that covered me from head to foot, they natur¬ 
ally reached the bone ... or rather the wood, 
for as you see I am made of the hardest wood. 
But after giving a few bites they soon discov¬ 
ered that I was not a morsel for their teeth, 
and, disgusted with such indigestible food, they 
went off, some in one direction and some in 
another, without so much as saying thank you 
to me. And now, at last, I have told you how 
it was that when you pulled up the rope you 
found a live puppet instead of a dead donkey.” 

“ I laugh at your story,” cried the man in a 
rage. “ I know only that I spent twenty pence 
to buy you, and I will have my money back. 
Shall I tell you what I will do? I will take 
you back to the market and I will sell you by 
weight as seasoned wood for lighting fires.” 

“ Sell me if you like; I am content,” said 
Pinocchio. 

But as he said it he made a spring and 
plunged into the water. Swimming gaily away 
from the shore he called to his poor owner: 















PINOCCHIO 


209 


“ Good-bye, master; if you should be in 
want of a skin to make a drum, remember me.” 

And he laughed and went on swimming; 
and after a while he turned again and shouted 
louder: 

“ Good-bye, master; if you should be in 
want of a little well-seasoned wood for lighting 
the fire, remember me.” 

In the twinkling of an eye he had swum so 
far off that he was scarcely visible. All that 
could be seen of him was a little black speck 
on the surface of the sea that from time to 
time lifted its legs out of the water and leapt 
and capered like a dolphin enjoying himself. 

Whilst Pinocchio was swimming he knew 
not whither, he saw in the midst of the sea a 
rock that seemed to be made of white marble, 
and on the summit there stood a beautiful little 
goat who bleated lovingly and made signs to 
him to approach. 

But the most singular thing was this. The 
little goat’s hair, instead of being white or black, 
or a mixture of two colours as is usual with 
other goats, was blue, and of a very vivid blue, 
greatly resembling the hair of the beautiful 
Child. 

I leave you to imagine how rapidly poor 
Pinocchio’s heart began to beat. He swam 
with redoubled strength and energy towards 

14 


210 


PINOCCHIO 


the white rock; and he was already half-way 
when he saw, rising up out of the water and 
coming to meet him, the horrible head of a sea- 
monster. His wide-open cavernous mouth and 
his three rows of enormous teeth would have 
been terrifying to look at even in a picture. 

And do you know what this sea-monster 
was? 

This sea-monster was neither more nor less 
than that gigantic Dog-fish who has been men¬ 
tioned many times in this story, and who, for 
his slaughter and for his insatiable voracity, 
had been named the “Attila of fish and fisher¬ 
men.” 

Only think of poor Pinocchio’s terror at 
the sight of the monster. He tried to avoid it, 
to change his direction; he tried to escape; but 
that immense wide-open mouth came towards 
him with the velocity of an arrow. 

“ Be quick, Pinocchio, for pity’s sake,” cried 
the beautiful little goat, bleating. 

And Pinocchio swam desperately with his 
arms, his chest, his legs, and his feet. 

“ Quick, Pinocchio, the monster is close 
upon you!...” 

And Pinocchio swam quicker than ever, and 
flew on with the rapidity of a ball from a gun. 
He had nearly reached the rock, and the little 


PINOCCHIO 


211 


goat, leaning over towards the sea, had 
stretched out her fore-legs to help him out of 
the water! . . . 

But it was too late! The monster had over¬ 
taken him, and, drawing in his breath, he sucked 
in the poor puppet as he would have sucked a 
hen’s egg; and he swallowed him with such vio¬ 
lence and avidity that Pinocchio, in falling into 
the Dog-fish’s stomach, received such a blow 
that he remained unconscious for a quarter of 
an hour afterwards. 

When he came to himself again after the 
shock he could not in the least imagine in what 
world he was. All round him it was quite 
dark, and the darkness was so black and so 
profound that it seemed to him that he had 
fallen head downwards into an inkstand full 
of ink. He listened, but he could hear no 
noise; only from time to time great gusts of 
wind blew in his face. At first he could not 
understand where the wind came from, but at 
last he discovered that it came out of the 
monster’s lungs. For you must know that the 
Dog-fish suffered very much from asthma, and 
when he breathed it was exactly as if a north 
wind was blowing. 

Pinocchio at first tried to keep up his cour¬ 
age; but when he had one proof after another 


212 


PINOCCHIO 


that he was really shut up in the body of this 
sea-monster he began to cry and to sob out: 

“ Help! help! Oh, how unfortunate I am! 
Will nobody come to save me? ” 

“ Who do you think could save you, un¬ 
happy wretch? . . said a voice in the dark 
that sounded like a guitar out of tune. 

“ Who is speaking? ” asked Pinocchio, 
frozen with terror. 

“ It is I! I am a poor Tunny who was 
swallowed by the Dog-fish at the same time 
that you were. And what fish are you? ” 

“ I have nothing in common with fish. I am 
a puppet.” 

“ Then if you are not a fish, why did you 
let yourself be swallowed by the monster? ” 

“ I didn’t let myself be swallowed: it was 
the monster swallowed me! And now, what 
are we to do here in the dark? ” 

“ Resign ourselves and wait until the Dog¬ 
fish has digested us both.” 

“ But I do not want to be digested! ” howled 
Pinocchio, beginning to cry again. 

“ Neither do I want to be digested,” added 
the Tunny; “ but I am enough of a philosopher 
to console myself by thinking that when one is 
born a Tunny it is more dignified to die in the 
water than in oil.” 


PINOCCHIO 


213 


“ That is all nonsense! ” cried Pinocchio. 

“It is my opinion,” replied the Tunny; 
“ and opinions, so say the political Tunnies, 
ought to be respected.” 

“ To sum it all up ... I want to get away 
from here ... I want to escape.” 

“ Escape if you are able! . . .” 

“ Is this Dog-fish who has swallowed us 
very big? ” asked the puppet. 

“Big! Why, only imagine, his body is 
two miles long without counting his tail.” 

Whilst they were holding this conversation 
in the dark, Pinocchio thought that he saw a 
light a long way off. 

“ What is that little light I see in the dis¬ 
tance? ” he asked. 

“ It is most likely some companion in mis¬ 
fortune who is waiting like us to be digested.” 

“ I will go and find him. Do you not think 
that it may by chance be some old fish who 
perhaps could show us how to escape? ” 

“ I hope it may be so with all my heart, dear 
puppet.” 

“ Good-bye, Tunny.” 

“ Good-bye, puppet, and good fortune 
attend you.” 

“Where shall we meet again? . . .” 

“ Who can say?... It is better not even to 
think of it! ” 


XXXV 


PINOCCHIO FINDS IN THE BODY OF THE DOG¬ 
FISH . . , WHOM DOES HE FIND? READ THIS 
CHAPTER AND YOU WILL KNOW 

P INOCCHIO, having taken leave of his 
friend the Tunny, began to grope his way 
in the dark through the body of the Dog¬ 
fish, taking a step at a time in the direction 
of the light that he saw shining dimly at a 
great distance. 

The farther he advanced the brighter be¬ 
came the light; and he walked and walked until 
at last he reached it: and when he reached it 
. . . what did he find? I will give you a thou¬ 
sand guesses. He found a little table spread 
out, and on it a lighted candle stuck into a 
green glass bottle, and seated at the table was 
a little old man. He was eating some live fish, 
and they were so very much alive that whilst 
he was eating them they sometimes even 
jumped out of his mouth. 

At this sight Pinocchio was filled with such 
great and unexpected joy that he became 
almost delirious. He wanted to laugh, he 
wanted to cry, he wanted to say a thousand 
things, and instead he could only stammer out 
a few confused and broken words. At last he 
succeeded in uttering a cry of joy, and opening 

214 


PINOCCHIO 215 

his arms he threw them round the little old 
man’s neck, and began to shout: 

“ Oh, my dear papa! I have found you 
at last! I will never leave you more, never 
more, never more! ” 

“ Then my eyes tell me true? ” said the 
little old man, rubbing his eyes; “ then you are 
really my dear Pinocehio? ” 

“ Yes, yes, I am Pinocehio, really Pinoc- 
chio! And you have quite forgiven me, have 
you not? Oh, my dear papa, how good you 
are! . . . and to think that I, on the contrary 
. .. Oh! but if you only knew what misfortunes 
have been poured on my head, and all that has 
befallen me! Only imagine, the day that you, 
poor dear papa, sold your coat to buy me a 
Spelling-book that I might go to school, I 
escaped to see the puppet-show, and the show¬ 
man wanted to put me on the fire that I might 
roast his mutton, and he was the same that 
afterwards gave me five gold pieces to take 
them to you, but I met the Fox and the Cat, 
who took me to the inn of the Red Craw-fish, 
where they ate like wolves, and I left by myself 
in the middle of the night, and I encountered 
assassins who ran after me, and I ran away, 
and they followed, and I ran, and they always 
followed me, and I ran, until they hung me to 
a branch of a Big Oak, and the beautiful Child 


216 


PINOCCHIO 


with blue hair sent a little carriage to fetch 
me, and the doctors when they had seen me 
said immediately, ‘ If he is not dead, it is a 
proof that he is still alive ’—and then by chance 
I told a lie, and my nose began to grow until 
I could no longer get through the door of the 
room, for which reason I went with the Fox 
and the Cat to bury the four gold pieces, for 
one I had spent at the inn, and the Parrot 
began to laugh, and instead of two thousand 
gold pieces I found none left, for which reason 
the judge when he heard that I had been robbed 
had me immediately put in prison to content 
the robbers, and then when I was coming away 
I saw a beautiful bunch of grapes in a field, and 
I was caught in a trap, and the peasant, who 
was quite right, put a dog-collar round my 
neck that I might guard the poultry-yard, and 
acknowledging my innocence let me go, and 
the Serpent with the smoking tail began to 
laugh and broke a blood-vessel in his chest, 
and so I returned to the house of the beautiful 
Child who was dead, and the Pigeon, seeing 
that I was crying, said to me, ‘ I have seen 
your father who was building a little boat to 
go in search of you,’ and I said to him, ‘ Oh! 
if I had also wings,’ and he said to me, ‘ Do 
you want to go to your father?’ and I said, 

‘ Without doubt! but who will take me to him? ’ 


PINOCCHIO 


217 


and he said to me, ‘ I will take you,’ and I said 
to him, ‘ How ? ’ and he said to me, ‘ Get on 
my back,’ and so we flew all night, and then 
in the morning all the fishermen who were look¬ 
ing out to sea said to me, 4 There is a poor man 
in a boat who is on the point of being drowned,’ 
and I recognised you at once, even at that dis¬ 
tance, for my heart told me, and I made signs 
to you to return to land . . 

“ I also recognised you,” said Geppotto, 
4 4 and I would willingly have returned to the 
shore: but what was I to do! The sea was tre¬ 
mendous, and a great wave upset my boat. 
Then a horrible Dog-fish who was near, as soon 
as he saw me in the water, came towards me, 
and putting out his tongue took hold of me, 
and swallowed me as if I had been a little 
Bologna tart.” 

“ And how long have you been shut up 
here? ” asked Pinocchio. 

44 Since that day—it must be nearly two 
years ago: two years, my dear Pinocchio, that 
have seemed to me like two centuries! ” 

44 And how have you managed to live ? And 
where did you get the candle ? And the matches 
to light it? Who gave them to you? ” 

44 Stop, and I will tell you everything. You 
must know, then, that in the same storm in 
which my boat was upset a merchant vessel 


218 


PINOCCHIO 


foundered. The sailors were all saved, but the 
vessel went to the bottom, and the Dog-fish, 
who had an excellent appetite, after he had 
swallowed me, swallowed the vessel. . . .” 

“ How? ” 

“ He swallowed it in one mouthful, and the 
only thing that he spat out was the mainmast, 
that had stuck between his teeth like a fish¬ 
bone. Fortunately for me the vessel was laden 
with preserved meat in tins, biscuit, bottles of 
wine, dried raisins, cheese, coffee, sugar, 
candles, and boxes of wax matches. With this 
providential supply I have been able to live 
for two years. But I have arrived at the end of 
my resources: there is nothing left in the larder, 
and this candle is the last that remains ...” 

“ And after that? ” 

“ After that, dear boy, we shall both re¬ 
main in the dark.” 

“ Then, dear little papa,” said Pinocchio, 
“ there is no time to lose. We must think of 
escaping . . .” 

“ Of escaping?. . . and how? ” 

“ We must escape through the mouth of the 
Dog-fish, jump into the sea and swim away.” 

“You talk well: but, dear Pinocchio, I 
don’t know how to swim.” 

“ What does that matter? ... I am a good 


PINOCCHIO 


219 


swimmer, and you can get on my shoulders and 
I will carry you safely to shore.” 

“ All illusions, my boy! ” replied Geppetto, 
shaking his head, with a melancholy smile. 
“ Do you suppose it possible that a puppet like 
you, scarcely a metre high, could have the 
strength to swim with me on his shoulders!” 

“ Try it and you will see! ” 

Without another word Pinocchio took the 
candle in his hand, and going in front to light 
the way, he said to his father: 

“ Follow me, and don’t be afraid.” 

And they walked for some time and 
traversed the body and the stomach of the Dog¬ 
fish. But when they had arrived at the point 
where the monster’s big throat began, they 
thought it better to stop to give a good look 
round and to choose the best moment for 
escaping. 

Now I must tell you that the Dog-fish, 
being very old, and suffering from asthma and 
palpitation of the heart, was obliged to sleep 
with his mouth open. Pinocchio, therefore, 
having approached the entrance to his throat 
and, looking up, could see beyond the enormous 
gaping mouth a large piece of starry sky and 
beautiful moonlight. 

“ This is the moment to escape,” he whis¬ 
pered, turning to his father; “ the Dog-fish is 


220 


PINOCCHIO 


sleeping like a dormouse, the sea is calm, and 
it is as light as day. Follow me, dear papa, and 
in a short time we shall be in safety.” 

They immediately climbed up the throat of 
the sea-monster, and having reached his im¬ 
mense mouth they began to walk on tiptoe down 
his tongue. 

Before taking the final leap the puppet 
said to his father: 

“ Get on my shoulders and put your arms 
round my neck. I will take care of the rest.” 

As soon as Geppetto was firmly settled on 
his son’s shoulders, Pinocchio, feeling sure of 
himself, threw himself into the water and began 
to swim. The sea was as smooth as oil, the 
moon shone brilliantly, and the Dog-fish was 
sleeping so profoundly that even a cannonade 
would have failed to wake him. 


XXXVI 

PINOCCHIO AT LAST CEASES TO BE A PUPPET 
AND BECOMES A BOY 

W HILST Pinocchio was swimming 
quickly towards the shore he discov¬ 
ered that his father, who was on his 
shoulders with his legs in the water, was trem¬ 
bling as violently as if the poor man had got 
an attack of ague fever. 

Was he trembling from cold or from fear? 
. . . Perhaps a little from both the one and the 
other. But Pinocchio, thinking that it was 
from fear, said to comfort him: 

“ Courage, papa! In a few minutes we 
shall be safely on shore.” 

“ But where is this blessed shore? ” asked 
the little old man, becoming still more fright¬ 
ened, and screwing up his eyes as tailors do 
when they wish to thread a needle. “ I have 
been looking in every direction and I see noth¬ 
ing but the sky and the sea.” 

“ But I see the shore as well,” said the 
puppet. “You must know that I am like a 
cat: I see better by night than by day.” 

Poor Pinocchio was making a pretence of 
being in good spirits, but in reality ... in 
reality he was beginning to feel discouraged: 
his strength was failing, he was gasping and 
221 


PINOCCHIO 


panting for breath ... he could do no more, 
and the shore was still far off. 

He swam until he had no breath left; then 
he turned his head to Geppetto and said in 
broken words: 

“ Papa . . . help me ... I am dying! . . .” 

The father and son were on the point of 
drowning when they heard a voice like a guitar 
out of tune saying: 

“ Who is it that is dying? ” 

“ It is I, and my poor father! . . .” 

“ I know that voice! You are Pinocchio! ” 

“ Precisely: and you? ” 

“ I am the Tunny, your prison companion 
in the body of the Dog-fish.” 

“ And how did you manage to escape? ” 

“ I followed your example. You showed 
me the road, and I escaped after you.” 

“ Tunny, you have arrived at the right mo¬ 
ment! I implore you to help us, or we are 
lost.” 

“ Willingly and with all my heart. You 
must, both of you, take hold of my tail and 
leave me to guide you. I will take you on shore 
in four minutes.” 

Geppetto and Pinocchio, as I need not tell 
you, accepted the offer at once; but instead of 
holding on by his tail they thought it would be 


PINOCCHIO 


223 


more comfortable to get on the Tunny’s back. 

Having reached the shore Pinocchio sprang 
first on land that he might help his father to 
do the same. He then turned to the Tunny, 
and said to him in a voice full of emotion: 

“ My friend, you have saved my papa’s life. 
I can find no words with which to thank you 
properly. Permit me at least to give you a 
kiss as a sign of my eternal gratitude! . . .” 

The Tunny put his head out of the water, 
and Pinocchio, kneeling on the ground, kissed 
him tenderly on the mouth. At this spon¬ 
taneous proof of warm affection, the poor 
Tunny, who was not accustomed to it, felt 
extremely touched, and ashamed to let himself 
be seen crying like a child, he plunged under 
the water and disappeared. 

By this time the day had dawned. Pinoc¬ 
chio then offering his arm to Geppetto, who 
had scarcely breath to stand, said to him: 

44 Lean on my arm, dear papa, and let us 
go. We will walk very slowly like the ants 
and when we are tired we can rest by the way- 
side.” 

44 And where shall we go? ” asked Geppetto. 

44 In search of some house or cottage, where 
they will give us for charity a mouthful of 
bread, and a little straw to serve as a bed.” 


PINOCCHIO 


224 


They had not gone a hundred yards when 
they saw by the roadside two villainous-looking 
individuals begging. 

They were the Cat and the Fox, but they 
were scarcely recognisable. Fancy! the Cat 
had so long feigned blindness that she had be¬ 
come blind in reality; and the Fox, old, mangy, 
and with one side paralysed, had not even his 
tail left. That sneaking thief, having fallen 
into the most squalid misery, one fine day had 
found himself obliged to sell his beautiful tail 
to a travelling pedlar, who bought it to drive 
away flies. 

“ Oh, Pinocchio! ” cried the Fox, “ give a 
little in charity to two poor infirm people.” 

“ Infirm people,” repeated the Cat. 

“ Begone, impostors! ” answered the pup¬ 
pet. “ You took me in once, but you will never 
catch me again.” 

“ Believe me, Pinocchio, we are now poor 
and unfortunate indeed! ” 

“If you are poor, you deserve it. Recollect 
the proverb: ‘ Stolen money never fructifies.’ 
Begone, impostors! ” 

And thus saying Pinocchio and Geppetto 
went their way in peace. When they had gone 
another hundred yards they saw, at the end of 
a path in the middle of the fields, a nice little 
straw hut with a roof of tiles and bricks. 


PINOCCHIO 


225 


“ That hut must be inhabited by some one,” 
said Pinocchio. “ Let us go and knock at the 
door.” 

They went and knocked. 

“ Who is there? ” said a little voice from 
within. 

“We are a poor father and son without 
bread and without a roof,” answered the 
puppet. 

“ Turn the key and the door will open,” 
said the same little voice. 

Pinocchio turned the key and the door 
opened. They went in and looked here, there, 
and everywhere, but could see no one. 

“ Oh! where is the master of the house?” 
said Pinocchio, much surprised. 

“ Here I am up here! ” 

The father and son looked immediately up 
to the ceiling, and there on a beam they saw 
the Talking-cricket. 

“ Oh, my dear little Cricket! ” said Pinoc¬ 
chio, bowing politely to him. 

“ Ah! now you call me ‘ Your dear little 
Cricket.’ But do you remember the time when 
you threw the handle of a hammer at me, to 
drive me from your house? . . .” 

“You are right, Cricket! Drive me away 
also . . . throw the handle of a hammer at me; 
but have pity on my poor papa . . .” 

15 


226 


PINOCCHIO 


“ I will have pity on both father and son, 
but I wished to remind you of the ill treatment 
I received from you, to teach you that in this 
world, when it is possible, we should show cour¬ 
tesy to everybody, if we wish it to be extended 
to us in our hour of need.” 

“ You are right, Cricket, you are right, and 
I will bear in mind the lesson you have given 
me. But tell me how you managed to buy 
this beautiful hut.” 

“ This hut was given to me yesterday by a 
goat whose wool was of a beautiful blue colour.” 

“ And where has the goat gone? ” asked 
Pinocchio with lively curiosity. 

“ I do not know.” 

“ And when will it come back?. . 

“ It will never come back. It went away 
yesterday in great grief and, bleating, it seemed 
to say: ‘ Poor Pinocchio ... I shall never see 
him more ... by this time the Dog-fish must 
have devoured him! . . .’ ” 

“ Did it really say that? . . . Then it was 
she! ... it was she! ... it was my dear little 
Fairy! . . .” exclaimed Pinocchio. 

When he had cried for some time he dried 
his eyes, and prepared a comfortable bed of 
straw for Geppetto to lie down upon. Then 
he asked the Cricket: 


PINOCCHIO 


227 


“ Tell me, little Cricket, where can I find 
a tumbler of milk for my poor papa? ” 

“ Three fields off from here there lives a 
gardener called Giangio who keeps cows. Go 
to him and you will get the milk you are in 
want of.” 

Pinocchio ran all the way to Giangio’s 
house; and the gardener asked him: 

“ How much milk do you want? ” 

“ I want a tumblerful.” 

“ A tumbler of milk costs a halfpenny. Be¬ 
gin by giving me the halfpenny.” 

“ I have not even a farthing,” replied 
Pinocchio, grieved and mortified. 

“ That is bad, puppet,” answered the gar¬ 
dener. “If you have not even a farthing, I 
have not even a drop of milk.” 

“ I must have patience! ” said Pinocchio, 
and he turned to go. 

“Wait a little,” said Giangio. “We can 
come to an arrangement together. Will you 
undertake to turn the pumping machine? ” 

“ What is the pumping machine? ” 

“ It is a wooden pole which serves to draw 
up the water from the cistern to water the 
vegetables.” 

“ You can try me ...” 

“ Well, then, if you will draw a hundred 


228 


PINOCCHIO 


buckets of water, I will give you in compensa¬ 
tion a tumbler of milk.” 

“It is a bargain.” 

Giangio then led Pinocchio to the kitchen 
garden and taught him how to turn the pump¬ 
ing machine. Pinocchio immediately began to 
work; but before he had drawn up the hundred 
buckets of water the perspiration was pouring 
from his head to his feet. Never before had 
he undergone such fatigue. 

“ Up till now,” said the gardener, “ the 
labour of turning the pumping machine was 
performed by my little donkey; but the poor 
animal is dying.” 

“ Will you take me to see him? ” said 
Pinocchio. 

“ Willingly.” 

When Pinocchio went into the stable he 
saw a beautiful little donkey stretched on the 
straw, worn out from hunger and overwork. 
After looking at him earnestly he said to him¬ 
self, much troubled: 

“ I am sure I know this little donkey! His 
face is not new to me.” 

And bending over him he asked him in 
asinine language: 

“ Who are you? ” 

At this question the little donkey opened 


PINOCCHIO 


229 


his dying eyes, and answered in broken words 
in the same language: 

“ I am . . . Can . . . die . . . wick . . .” 

And having again closed his eyes he expired. 

“ Oh, poor Candlewick! ” said Pinocchio in 
a low voice; and taking a handful of straw he 
dried a tear that was rolling down his face. 

“ Do you grieve for a donkey that cost you 
nothing? ” said the gardener. “ What must it 
be to me who bought him for ready money? ” 

“ I must tell you ... he was my friend! ” 

“ Your friend? ” 

“ One of my schoolfellows! . . .” 

“ How?” shouted Giangio, laughing loudly. 
“ How? had you donkeys for schoolfellows? ... 
I can imagine what wonderful studies you must 
have made! . . .” 

The puppet, who felt much mortified at 
these words, did not answer; but taking his 
tumbler of milk, still quite warm, he returned 
to the hut* 

And from that day for more than five 
months he continued to get up at daybreak 
every morning to go and turn the pumping 
machine, to earn the tumbler of milk that was 
of such benefit to his father in his bad state of 
health. Nor was he satisfied with this; for dur¬ 
ing the time that he had over he learnt to make 
hampers and baskets of rushes, and with the 


230 


PINOCCHIO 


money he obtained by selling them he was able 
with great economy to provide for all the daily 
expenses. Amongst other things he constructed 
an elegant little wheel-chair, in which he could 
take his father out on fine days to breathe a 
mouthful of fresh air. 

By his industry, ingenuity, and his anxiety 
to work and to overcome difficulties, he not 
only succeeded in maintaining his father, who 
continued infirm, in comfort, but he also con¬ 
trived to put aside forty pence to buy himself 
a new coat. 

One morning he said to his father: 

“ I am going to the neighbouring market 
,to buy myself a jacket, a cap, and a pair of 
shoes. When I return,” he added, laughing, 
“ I shall be so well dressed that you will take 
me for a fine gentleman.” 

And leaving the house he began to run mer¬ 
rily and happily along. All at once he heard 
himself called by name, and turning round he 
saw a big Snail crawling out from the hedge. 

“ Do you not know me? ” asked the Snail. 

44 It seems to me . . . and yet I am not 
sure . . 

“ Do you not remember the Snail who was 
lady’s-maid to the Fairy with blue hair? Do 
you not remember the time when I came down¬ 
stairs to let you in, and you were caught by 


PINOCCHIO 231 

your foot which you had stuck through the 
house door?” 

“ I remember it all,” shouted Pinocchio. 
“ Tell me quickly, my beautiful little Snail, 
where have you left my good Fairy? What is 
she doing? has she forgiven me? does she still 
remember me? does she still wish me well? is 
she far from here? can I go and see her? ” 

To all these rapid, breathless questions the 
Snail replied in her usual phlegmatic manner: 

“ My dear Pinocchio, the poor Fairy is 
lying in bed at the hospital! . . 

“ At the hospital? . . 

“ It is only too true. Overtaken by a thou¬ 
sand misfortunes she has fallen seriously ill, 
and she has not even enough to buy herself a 
mouthful of bread.” 

“Is it really so? . . . Oh, what sorrow you 
have given me! Oh, poor Fairy! poor Fairy! 
poor Fairy!... If I had a million I would run 
and carry it to her . . . but I have only forty 
pence . . . here they are: I was going to buy a 
new coat. Take them, Snail, and carry them 
at once to my good Fairy.” 

“ And your new coat? . . .” 

“ What matters my new coat? I would 
sell even these rags that I have got on to be 
able to help her. Go, Snail, and be quick; and 
in two days return to this place, for I hope I 


232 


PINOCCHIO 


shall then be able to give you some more money. 
Up to this time I have worked to maintain my 
papa: from to-day I will work five hours more 
that I may also maintain my good mamma. 
Good-bye, I shall expect you in two days.” 

The Snail, contrary to her usual habits, 
began to run like a lizard in a hot August sun. 

That evening Pinocchio, instead of going 
to bed at ten o’clock, sat up till midnight had 
struck; and instead of making eight baskets of 
rushes he made sixteen. 

Then he went to bed and fell asleep. And 
whilst he slept he thought that he saw the Fairy 
smiling and beautiful, who, kissing him, said: 

“Well done, Pinocchio! To reward you 
for your good heart I will forgive you for all 
that is past. Boys who minister tenderly to 
their parents, and assist them in their misery 
and infirmities, are deserving of great praise 
and affection, even if they cannot be cited as 
examples of obedience and good behaviour. 
Try and do better in the future and you will 
be happy.” 

At this moment his dream ended, and 
Pinocchio opened his eyes and awoke. 

But imagine his astonishment when upon 
awakening he discovered that he was no longer 
a wooden puppet, but that he had become in¬ 
stead a boy, like all other boys. He gave a 


PINOCCHIO 


233 


glance round and saw that the straw walls of 
the hut had disappeared, and that he was in 
a pretty little room furnished and arranged 
with a simplicity that was almost elegance. 
Jumping out of bed he found a new suit of 
clothes ready for him, a new cap, and a pair 
of new leather boots that fitted him beautifully. 

He was hardly dressed when he naturally 
put his hands in his pockets, and pulled out a 
little ivory purse on which these words were 
written: “ The Fairy with blue hair returns 
the forty pence to her dear Pinocchio, and 
thanks him for his good heart.” He opened 
the purse, and instead of forty copper pennies 
he saw forty shining gold pieces fresh from the 
mint. 

He then went and looked at himself in the 
glass, and he thought he was some one else. 
For he no longer saw the usual reflection of a 
wooden puppet; he was greeted instead by the 
image of a bright, intelligent boy with chest¬ 
nut hair, blue eyes, and looking as happy and 
joyful as if it were the Easter holidays. 

In the midst of all these wonders succeed¬ 
ing each other Pinocchio felt quite bewildered, 
and he could not tell if he was really awake or 
if he was dreaming with his eyes open. 

“ Where can my papa be? ” he exclaimed 
suddenly, and going into the next room he 


234 


PINOCCHIO 


found old Geppetto quite well, lively, and in 
good humour, just as he had been formerly. 
He had already resumed his trade of wood¬ 
carving, and he was designing a beautiful frame 
of leaves, flowers, and the heads of animals. 

“ Satisfy my curiosity, dear papa,” said 
Pinocchio, throwing his arms round his neck 
and covering him with kisses; “ how can this 
sudden change be accounted for? ” 

“ This sudden change in our home is all your 
doing,” answered Geppetto. 

“ How my doing? ” 

“ Because when boys who have behaved 
badly turn over a new leaf and become good, 
they have the power of bringing content and 
happiness to their families.” 

“ And where has the old wooden Pinocchio 
hidden himself? ” 

“ There he is,” answered Geppetto, and he 
pointed to a big puppet leaning against a chair, 
with its head on one side, its arms dangling, 
and its legs so crossed and bent that it was 
really a miracle that it remained standing. 

Pinocchio turned and looked at it; and after 
he had looked at it for a short time, he said to 
himself with great complacency: 

“ How ridiculous I was when. I was a pup¬ 
pet! and how glad I am that I have become a 
well-behaved little boy? . . .” 


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